


Friction

by GothamCityRollerGirl



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Explicit Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Lemon, Lime, Multi, Nudity, Partial Nudity, Past Rape/Non-con, Sexual Tension, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:33:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 33
Words: 50,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamCityRollerGirl/pseuds/GothamCityRollerGirl
Summary: Theophania Alyce Byrne (Thea for short, or Tabs to her friends) was your average, run of the mill Gothamite. Meaning she always carried a switchblade, was a blackbelt in Judo, had two immediate family members in/retired from the GCPD, knew at least two of the Gotham Rogues by name (Poison Ivy and Scarecrow, if you’re wondering) and had a “Bat Bucket” of treats/drinks/snacks/basic first aid on her fire escape.She was an everyday, run of the mill Gothamite until the day Jason Todd broke into her apartment by accident because he was hungry.Because of that sandwich B&E, Thea becomes a central figure in the lives of several of the BatFam.**UPDATED 22Jan2021 with ART**
Relationships: Jason Todd/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 119
Collections: batfam





	1. Get off the Damn Hood, Hood.

It was 6 AM, my “12 that turned into a 17 hour” shift at Gotham General just ended, and I was exhausted. I managed to make it to my car in the parking lot without falling over only to find some dude – some big dude – in a red hood (RED HOOD WTF) sitting on the hood of my ancient Honda Civic, playing on his phone.

“Yo, unless you wanna be my eyes on the road, Ima need you to get your ass off my car.”

“No, thanks.” He said, giving me the middle finger. I was floored.

“Did I stutter?” I asked, using a tone which must have gotten his attention because his face snapped to the left to look at me.

“My ass is spectacular, thank you very much.”

“Well, your spectacular ass is gonna be sorry in about 30 seconds, fair warning.” I said, manually unlocking the driver’s side door, throwing my bag on the passenger seat, and sliding into the driver’s side seat. I turned the car on, giving him a few seconds to take himself and his fine ass off my hood. He was not wrong. His ass was, in fact, truly spectacular. When enough time had passed to let me know he was really playing this stupid game of chicken at 6 am on a Friday morning, I shifted the car into reverse, and backed up just a little faster than you normally would.

His ass was also spectacular rolling off the hood of my car. I slowed down enough to roll down the passenger side window and call out to him “You weren’t wrong about your ass, I gotta admit.” The sound of his surprised laughter made my day as I drove away. #OnlyInGotham

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my very first published fic! I've got a lot more written, and had a lot of fun with it, but it's still a work in progress.


	2. What the Cinnamon Toast Fuck is Going On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason realizes he's in the wrong apartment when faced with an irate derby girl wielding a switchblade. #OnlyInGotham
> 
> *No sandwiches were harmed in the writing of this chapter*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEAUTIFUL ART courtesy of the WONDERFUL [NinaLinovna](https://ninalinovna.tumblr.com/)

Friday Afternoon. Roller Derby practice in the late afternoon at Gotham Park Skate rink. As soon as I walked into my apartment and shut the door, I dropped my gear bag and helmet. Still in my uniform, I started peeling off layers of sweaty clothing, dropping them in a heap on the floor. I was down to my sports bra and leggings when I realized there was a dude eating a sandwich in my kitchen.

I live alone.

I pulled a switchblade out of the small pocket at the back of my running pants, and flipped it open.

The clicking noise must have gotten his attention and he must have noticed the furrowed brow look of “what the cinnamon toast fuck is going on” because he said, “Oh, my bad, I thought this was my brother’s apartment.”

“Does your brother’s apartment aesthetic closely resemble that of an extremely crowded flea market?”

“No.”

“And yet,” I said, gesturing at the current state of my stranger eating a sandwich in my kitchen. “Who’s your brother?”

“Tim Drake”

“He’s a floor below me.”

“It’s not like the put the floor numbers on the OUTSIDE of the building!”

“MY GUESS IS YOU CAN COUNT, HAMBURGLAR.” I said, making my sandwich-eating stranger choke from laughing so hard.

“Aren’t switchblades illegal?” the dude asked, looking at me skeptically.

“Breaking and entering is ALSO illegal, sandwich dude. Just putting that out there.”

“Put that away, you’ll hurt someone.”

“My point.” I said, deadpan. Sandwich dude looked up at me, smiling.

“Do you even know how to use it?” he asked, wryly.

“Why don’t you come over here and find out,” I said, smiling a nasty little smile.

“Feisty! I like it!” he said, mouth full of food. “Relax, Ninjago, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Why don’t we find that out for sure,” I said. Sandwich dude raised his eyebrows as I pulled out my phone and dialed. I put it on speaker, for the enjoyment of all parties involved.

“Hey, Thea, what’s up?”

“Hey Tim. Am I interrupting anything?”

“Nah, you’re good – you ok?”

“Funny you should ask. There’s a big dude in my kitchen eating a goddamn sandwich claiming he’s your brother. Care to confirm?”

“BIG?” Sandwich dude exclaimed, sounding offended.

“Well, I mean, you’re tall, and you’re…nicely shaped.”

“Stop objectifying me!” Sandwich dude cried, laughing.

“I was trying to be polite Mr. Broke Into My Apartment To Make A Fucking Sandwich!”

“If I might interrupt,” Tim said, over the phone. “Hey, Jay.”

“Hey, Timbo.”  
“Not aggravating my lovely, black-belt in Judo upstairs neighbor by any chance, are we?”

“She pulled a switchblade on me, Tim!”

“Do you need me to come protect you, Jaybird?”

“Nah, I’ll keep my hands to myself,” I said, rolling my eyes. “So he really is your brother?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Hey!”

“I’ll be up to collect him in a bit.”

“Thanks, Tim.” I said, hanging up.

“Collect me? I could always just leave on my own,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “And yet, you're still here.” I paused. “Imma go take a shower, please don’t steal my stuff. Help yourself to food, sandwich man.”

“My name’s Jason.”

“I’m Thea, sandwich man.”

Once showered, I walked out of the bedroom still toweling off my hair and smelled….breakfast. Like, “go to a good diner at 8 am on a Sunday” breakfast. I threw my towel on one of my barstools at my kitchen counter and sat at the one next to it.

“So you’re a full service B&E catering enterprise, I gather.”

“Only for the cute ones,” he said, smiling over his shoulder at me as he flipped a really beautiful looking omlete.


	3. Whatever Happened to WhatsHisFace?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once vetted by Tim and the switchblade put away, Jason got down to the serious business of cooking for his brother's intriguing upstairs neighbor - and his brother.

“Hey, whatever happened to whatshisname?” Tim asked, mouth full of omlette.

I smiled. “There’ve been so many, you’ll have to be more specific,” I said, laughing.

  
“The blond, snotty looking one.”

"Male or female?"

"You know, I was never sure - drove a Saab - that's how I keep track of them, by their cars." Tim was laughing when he said it, but I knew he was serious.

"Oh! Doctor Douche. That was two whatstheirnames ago.”

“What was his problem?” Tim questioned.

“He was a little too…old-fashioned.”

“Old-fashioned how?” Jason asked, looking very interested.

“He got unexpectedly angry when I would not quit my job to become his full-time French maid.”

“I mean, you would look good in a French maid outfit,” Tim said, smiling slyly.

“I know, right? But like, the way he said it! “Theophania, I’m very disappointed in your decision to continue your career when I’ve offered to take care of you,”

“Wait, Dr. Douche proposed?” Tim gasped.

“I guess? I mean, he had a ring, but told me in order to accept it, I had to quit my job, so…” I shrugged.

“What did you say?” Jason asked, paying rapt attention.

“I told him I didn’t accept.”

“Is that when he went full douche?” Jason asked.

“No, that was after he went to grab me, and I put him in a joint lock, and said ‘don’t ever touch me again,’”

“And he still-“

“And, best of all, the fool tried all this on company property, in the cafeteria in front of dozens of people.”

“What happened?” Both Jason and Tim asked, aghast.

“I got him fired. Our HR department does not play.”

*****

After breakfast, I said I’d do the dishes, since Jason was the one who cooked. As I was gathering dishes, I noticed the spot where my loaf of bread should have been was empty.

“What happened to my loaf of bread?”

“It was delicious,” Jason said.

“YOU ATE THE WHOLE THING? That loaf was supposed to last me all week!”

“I mean, we had some with brunch…” Tim said, sounding unsure.

“Just buy a new one.” Jason said, making me roll my eyes.

I sighed. “I made it.”

“Then make another?” he said, tentatively.

“Do you have any idea how much bread flour costs?!” I put the dishes aside for a moment to go grab the bread machine from the pantry, which was behind the boys sitting at the counter. I placed it on the countertop to the right of the fridge, and started getting out the ingredients I needed. Jason came and leaned up against the sink, which sits at a 90-degree angle to the fridge – we were essentially hip to hip.

“What?” I asked, distracted.

“Just watching.”

I said nothing and kept working. When I started adding things to the bucket, Jason came up right behind me – right behind me- spreading his hands out on either side of me on the counter. I pressed my ass back against him, less trying to get him to move, more just…testing, and he pushed back, just as firmly.

“Is there a current Mr. Whatshisname?” he said softly, into my hair.

I turned my head ever so slightly to look at him out of the corner of my eye. “Not as of this moment,”

“Aaaaand, on that note, Jay, why don’t we leave the nice lady to her breadmaking – in peace?” Tim said, meaningfully. I saw Jason frown slightly, but he moved away from me, his left hand resting on my hip as he slowly pulled away.

“Thank you for brunch,” I said, winking at him.


	4. Sharpie and a Sports Bra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea has a bout! Thea makes out with some peeps! A certain someone resumes his position on the hood of her car! Intrigue! Sass! Roller Derby!

Saturday night. Bout night for my team Gotham City Roller Girls, at Gotham City roller rink. I was playing Jammer tonight (I was usually a blocker, because I’m real good at starting shit, but we were short a Jammer for this bout.) against the Bludhaven Brawlers.

I’d been doing derby since college (taking a break for nursing school) but had gotten back into it a few years ago once I was out of school. I’d played sports all through high school, (field hockey and lacrosse) and derby filled that space of “beating the shit out of other women” pretty well as an adult.

We played Bludhaven often – they were the closest team besides the six in NYC; but the NYC girls weren’t used to our level of…player participation, I guess. All the Gotham sports teams had that issue – we were a little more hardcore than most other cities expected. Bludhaven was different – they were just as savage. I had a couple good friends on their team, especially their EMT – she and I worked shifts together frequently.

I always looked forward to our bouts with Bludhaven; I’d get to elbow a couple chicks, probably get a bloody nose, maybe a black eye and if I was lucky, make out with a couple people.

The bout went about as I expected – I did, in fact, get a bloody nose and a busted lip, but I also got to make out with several ladies from both teams after the bout was over. On the way back to my car I was stopped by my EMT friend from Bludhaven when she called my name and asked me to hold up. As I turned, she grabbed me around my waist, pulling me to her. She kissed me so fiercely I almost fell over because it was so unexpected. (She was one of the ladies I made out with a few minutes ago, so it wasn’t unexpected because we hadn’t made out before – it was more just out of nowhere.) When she let me go, I was more out of breath than I had been in the middle of the bout.

“Wow,” I said, my head spinning.

“You did a great job tonight, as jammer,” she whispered into my ear.

“Thanks, Celia,” I was still breathless from her attempt to eat me from the inside out.

“Hopefully I’ll see you this week at work,” there was a mischievous smile on her lips as she said it; we both knew there was greater than a 100% chance we’d run into each other based on the cities in which we lived. She winked at me then walked away, back to her car.

I had to take a moment to catch my breath before I kept moving, but thankfully I wasn’t far from my car. I was leaning up against a car a couple down from mine when I noticed something on the hood of my Civic. Not something -someone. A very large someone, wearing a familiar red mask.

“You again?” I called through pursed lips. “Slow night for evildoers in Gotham?”

“Nah, I was just enjoying the show,” he said, vaguely pointing at me, still out of breath. “You definitely seem to be both teams’ most valuable player. Or, most enjoyable.”

“Well, you know what they say, play to your strengths/do what you’re good at.” I shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. “Do you just have a thing for sitting on the hoods of cars? Are you holding my car hostage? You know there are a bunch of GCPD guys here, right?”

Red Hood just shrugged, playing with a knife he’d pulled from his belt.

“Seriously, do you not have anything better to do? Or are you still mad about yesterday?”

“And here I thought we were getting along!”

I’d finally caught my breath, and walked to my trunk to throw my gear bag in it. I walked back up to the front of my car, and stood right in front of him.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT.” I was so exasperated I was almost shaking. Catching the attention of any of the Bat Family was bad news in Gotham, especially Red Hood.

“Ease back there, boss. I just wanted to get a better look at you, that’s all. Y’know, since it was kinda hard for me to see as I was forcibly thrown off your car and all.” Having said that, he hopped off my civic, circling me, slowly. He stopped directly behind me.

“Seriously. Poison I.V.? Seriously?”

“What? I got her permission. I’m a nurse. It’s roller derby. Sick senses of humor are kind of a given.”

“You...got her permission?” The tone of his voice clearly indicated he didn’t believe me.

“Yes. I direct messaged her on Twitter a few years ago. She’s actually come to a few bouts. She asked me for my jersey once.”

“Did…you give it to her?”

I looked at him like he was the dumbest person I’d ever met. Because at that moment, he was. “Yes, I gave it to her. I do not want my houseplants to come after me while I’m sleeping.”

“Was the bout…over?”

“Nope.”

“So…what’d you wear instead?”

“Sharpie, and a sports bra. It was no big deal.” I waited a beat. “No, you cannot have this jersey.”

“Fun-sucker.”

“Watch it, nice ass. Remember I might be the one stitching you up the next time you get shot. Keep it up, we might be low on anesthetic next time you’re on one of my beds.”

“So sassy!” 

“Are we done? I just want to go hoooome.”

“Fine. Go.” He said, and I could hear him rolling his eyes.

“Feel free to go pick on somebody else and their car, next time.”

Once I’d gotten in my car and pulled out, he motioned for me to roll my window down.

“WHAT.” I asked once it was rolled down.

“Be careful.” He sounded oddly serious, which threw me.

“Don’t die, I guess,” I said, rolling my window back up and driving off.


	5. If Sex Were a Language, He Just Spoke It - And He Was FLUENT.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea and Jason...get to know each other better. A lot better.

Sunday. Second Day Off. Spent the day at my Dojo, doing bo staff work with some of our children’s classes. I got back to my apartment around 5 PM and was surprised to find Jason right in front of me in my short hallway. Without thinking, I used the staff to sweep his feet out from under him, and heard a satisfying ‘thump’ when he landed full body on the floor. I put the end of the staff up to his neck, and asked what he was doing here.

“I was in the neighborhood, and figured I’d just drop by.” I noticed a distinct lack of concern in his tone.

“This is a pretty rough neighborhood, you gotta be careful whose apartments you break into,” I said, dryly. Without warning, he grabbed the end of the staff with both hands, and pulled it roughly past his head, pulling me down with it. I landed on my knees above him, making a rather unladylike “oof” sound as I hit the floor. I snaked my feet under his knees, settling myself firmly, right on his crotch.

And this is where, at this point, I lost all sense.

He sat up on his elbows, so we were face to face. “Hi there,” he said, softly. He locked eyes with me - he had the most beautiful blue eyes. Like, vibrant blue. And his eyelashes – any girl would be envious. Those kind of lashes.

“Hey,” I whispered back. I started rocking back and forth, very gently, in his lap and saw him close his eyes in what I assumed was enjoyment. He was not the only one enjoying himself.

“This is…unexpectedly delightful.” He said, looking me dead in the eyes.

“One then wonders – what exactly were you expecting when you pulled me down into your lap?”

“I’m…not sure. There was a higher probability of sinking than swimming. This was...a very nice change,” He paused, putting a hand on the back of my neck. I thought he was going to pull me in for a kiss…but he didn’t. He told me to hold on.

So I did. I put my arms around his chest, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t just flip us over using only one hand. We ended up with me on the floor underneath him, still holding him, him holding the two of us up with only one arm. I was impressed. But also disappointed that I wasn’t still in contact with his lower bits, so I wrapped my legs around him, too. Because I was completely wrapped around him, I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel him smile into my neck.

“Bit of a goddamn spider monkey, aren’t you?” 

“Mmhhmmm,” I murmured.

“I’m going to stand up – may I put you down?”

“No you may not.”

“I thought you might feel that way. Hold on tighter; Ima need both hands for this.”

He got us both upright, and replaced his arms back around me, underneath my ass this time.

“I’m starting to think you might like me,” he said, smiling a devilish smile.

“Answer unclear – ask again later,” 

Holding on to me tightly, he walked us over to my kitchen.

“I’m hungry. This may prove…challenging.”

“Want to put me down and I can get you something quick?”

“No, I do not.” He said, making me smile surreptitiously.

“I’m starting to think you might like me,” I said, my heart beating a thousand miles a minute.

“Outlook optimistic.” Jason said, tightening his grip on me, ever so slightly.

“There are protein bars in that cabinet,” I said, pointing past his head to a cabinet next to the fridge. He walked us over, and I stretched out to reach the particular cabinet in question. I pulled out a box of Kind bars, and asked if he’d prefer dark chocolate peanut butter or cranberry almond. He opted for the chocolate one.  
I swear to God he ate it in two bites. I pulled out another, and he ate it just as quickly.

“What now, Ninjago?” he asked, grinning wide.

“Well,” I said, a little hesitant to say what I was really thinking, which was “get naked”, “I think we are both wearing far too many unnecessary clothes.”

His grin only got bigger. “I like the way you think. What do you consider ‘necessary’?”

“I think that’s negotiable. Your thoughts?”

“Take it piece by piece, let’s see where it goes.”

The first piece (the top of my gi, and my belt) went on the floor of my kitchen, leaving me down to a white sports bra (the heavy duty ‘nothing will fucking move in this’ kind, built for well-endowed women) and the pants of my gi. The second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth were all the goddamn jackets/hoodies/t-shirts Jason had on. Seriously, this man had on like fifteen layers of tops. I had a mind to ask him why he needed so many fucking jackets, but I was too busy taking them off to ask. They landed on my kitchen floor, too.

“Do you wear this many tops…every day?”

“Am I detecting sarcasm, Ninjago?” Jason cocked an eyebrow, sounding amused.

“No, it’s just, you’re wearing like an entire wardrobe full of clothes on top. Do you…have 9,000 shirts/hoodies/jackets in reserve?”

“Funny story, actually. I truly would have 9,000 of everything – but my siblings keep stealing them. I’m pretty sure Tim’s got a bunch of my thermals and hoodies downstairs. My sisters, too – they LOVE taking my shirts.”

“So do you wear them all at the same time – as like a defense mechanism? To ensure you always have a complete set?”

“Kind of.”

“Huh.” I didn’t really know how I was supposed to react to that, so ‘huh’ would have to suffice.

“Now, where were we?” Jason asked, running a hand lightly up and down my back. It tickled, but it was that delicious kind of tickle – the kind you don’t want to stop. Like when someone brushes your hair. Whatever noise escaped me must have pleased him, because he told me “Oh, I like that – let’s see if I can’t keep that up awhile.”

He started walking us out of the kitchen, and when he was facing my pantry sliding doors, he looked to his right, then left. Holding me with just one arm (really, I can’t tell you how impressive I find this – I’m normal-person size, not like a tiny-waify-size 4 chick. I usually wear a size 12 in jeans. And I’m tall – I’m 5’10”. Being able to hold me with one arm, like it’s no big deal is…kind of a big deal.). Anyway. Holding me with just one arm, he pointed to the left.

“I assume there’s a bedroom thataway – you do have a bed, right? You sleep?” A playful grin was pulling at his lips as he said it.

“Indeed. A place for sleeping and…other things.”

“Let’s get to work on the other things, shall we?” Walking us to the bedroom, my bed was to our left. Jason stopped dead when he saw it. “This…was definitely not what I was expecting.”

I couldn’t tell if he was impressed, or offended, or what. “What...kind of bed did you expect I’d have?”

“Not one that could fit like 10 people in it, that’s for damn sure. Jesus. That’s…I don’t even think we have one this big at the Manor. What kind of bed is that? Is that a special order? Like…how many people have fit in this bed?” Jason was still holding on to me, but was fascinated with my bed, staring in wide-eyed amazement over my shoulder.

“It’s an Alaskan King. It’s not a special order.”

I saw his eyes narrow. “You didn’t answer my last question,” his gaze shifted back to me, and he had a suspicious look in his eyes. “How many people have fit in this bed?”

“By ‘fit’ do you mean sleeping?” I tried innocent to see if it stuck. It didn’t.

“Sure, why not, for starters,” Jason laughed as he walked us over to the side of the bed closest to the door. He gently set me down, so I was sitting on the edge, but had his arms out on either side of me, using his face to nudge me closer to the center head of the bed. I scooted backwards, Jason keeping pace above me, our faces almost touching.  
I finally got to the head of the bed (an Alaskan king is really big, yo) and Jason stopped. I was sitting up, but Jason decided that just wouldn’t do. In one swift motion, he gently tugged me by my waist so I was supine on the bed, taking my gi pants with him. Those were deposited over the side of the bed. Jason rejoined me, holding himself over me in a pushup position.

“Now we’re unevenly clothed,” I bit my lip as I said it, and saw something flash in Jason’s eyes. Hunger, maybe? Lust?

“My arms are busy; I think you’ll have to handle this.” His voice. My god, his voice just then. It made EVERYTHING inside me clench. If sex were a language, he just spoke it. And he was fluent.

“I really hope you aren’t wearing 17 belts,” I said under my breath, but Jason heard it, and laughed out loud.

“No, only one of those. And, before you ask, only one pair of pants, which are at your mercy. No one wants to steal them; I’m too tall.”

I may have neglected to mention until this point exactly what I was looking at, which considering how…busy we’d been, is understandable. Jason, in his 9,000 hoodies, was someone I wanted to lick up and down, twice. Jason, only in his underwear? Sweet Christmas. His muscle definition was – incredible. You know the meme where Chris Evans/Captain America is compared to a Dorito? Jason has a Dorito body – broad shoulders, smaller waist. I could wax poetic on the shape of his arms, but I’ll stop – suffice to say, Jason was built and built is my type. He is also very tall. One of my brothers is 6’4” (Gabe) and he looked like he was almost 1 Gabe tall to me. My other brother, Michael, is 6’2” and Jason was taller than Mike.

“You are—not.” I caught myself before saying what I was going to say, which was ‘perfect’.

“No, no, I heard that hesitation – that’s not what you were going to say,” He lowered himself so he was holding himself up on his forearms, and everything was just that much closer. Our faces were so close, our lips were touching slightly when he spoke next. “What were you going to say? ‘You’re-?‘’ he asked exactly like he was expecting a response.  
When I didn’t say anything for several moments, he nipped my bottom lip with his teeth, and I inhaled sharply and my eyes fluttered shut. I may have squirmed underneath him.

“Mmmh?” He nipped my lip again, longer this time. He wasn’t pressing hard, just hard enough to tug.

“You aren’t too tall – you’re perfect,” I was barely whispering. The feeling of him was just so overwhelming. The only places he was touching me, actually coming into contact with me, was my face, and part of our chests. The rest of him was just high enough. I fumbled at his belt buckle, finally getting it undone, then the top button of his cargos, and finally I just pulled one side of the cargos to get the zipper down. I decided the lack of contact was unacceptable. I gently raised myself up on my forearms behind me, slowly so we wouldn’t bang faces, then kept pushing him back, so he was straddling my legs on his knees, still not touching. Using movement theory I learned from Wing Chun (another martial art I studied) I lifted my right hip inside the triangle of his legs to get him off-balance, taking his momentum and using it to flip our positions. I wrapped my right arm around his waist and essentially threw him underneath me (gently). The whole point of Wing Chun is using your opponents force against them, and in this case, destabilizing his stance with my hip gave me the opportunity to move him where I wanted him to go, so I could go where I wanted to go. Which was on top of him, so I could pull his pants off. Once they were off, I settled myself back on top of his crotch, locking my legs underneath him. 

When I finally looked up, Jason was looking at me like I was an entirely new species he’d discovered.

“You didn’t learn that from Judo,” from his tone, he sounded impressed.

“No.”

“How many martial arts do you know?”

“A couple.”

“Was that Jiu Jitsu?”

“No.”

At that, Jason sat up, so we were face to face. I could see the wheels turning by the look on his face. He was trying to figure it out. His arms were out behind him, holding him up as he pondered. I waited.

“What was it?” 

“Why?” I asked softly. It intrigued me he was this interested in knowing more – dude certainly knew his martial arts (or at least some of them).

“That was expert-level strategy applied in a very short amount of time. That was-really impressive.”

“It’s called Wing Chun. Strictly speaking, that was Wing Chun theory, not the actual practice. It makes sense if you’re not familiar, because it wouldn’t really be useful to someone of your size. Size is not an advantage in Wing Chun, just the opposite.”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall?”

“Something like that. There are elements in Jiu Jitsu that are similar, so you were close.”

“How is it you make martial art theory sexy?”

“It’s a gift,” I said, smiling playfully and winking at him.

“I meant to ask earlier, but was…distracted. What happened to your lip?” He ran his finger over the split in my upper lip, making me shudder.

“Derby. I had a bout last night, took an elbow to the face.”

“Ouch!”

“Meh, I’m used to it. I’m lucky my nose didn’t get broken.”

“You are really blasé about bodily injuries, T,”

“A) I’m a nurse b) I’ve been playing full contact sports since my freshman year of high school and c) I grew up with two older brothers.”

“Any other bodily injuries I should know about now?” He used that voice to emphasize the word ‘now’. The man had a gift.

“You’ve got a pretty full view; you’re not missing anything.”

“Oh, there are a few things missing from this view, but…we’ll get there.” There was that voice again. Goddamn.

I started rocking, slowly, in his lap again. I relished the look on his face as he closed his eyes and exhaled. I pushed him gently backwards with one hand, so he was laying flat. Laying my hand on his chest, I started tracing shapes, lightly, with a nail. I started on the left side of his chest, having to bend forward slightly to get high enough to reach his shoulder. Moving forward shifted my hip position, making him inhale sharply. I kept tracing shapes, from his shoulder, to his left pec, over his nipple – that made him gasp, too – so I stayed there for a while. I only used one finger for a bit, lightly touching, tracing with my nail, watching his reactions. Then I tried two fingers, rolling it gently between them. That got more of a reaction. I leaned further forward so I was closer to his face. I traced the outline of his lips with my tongue – and his eyes could not have focused on me faster. Close enough so our lips touched, I purred “Mmmmhhm?”

I could feel him tensing up, and had a feeling he was about to kiss me when I pulled out of the way just fast enough. Switching hands, I started tracing on the right side of his chest, going as far down as the top of his black boxer-briefs. I traced a nail under the waistband and looked up when he started speaking again.

“Only one pair of those, too,” I could hear the growl in his chest, the rasp in his voice, but he was smiling.

“I’ll file that away for future use.” I paused. “Where now?” I had both my hands on his chest, and he took them and pulled me forward, so I was essentially doing child’s pose on his torso.

“Come here.” We were staring each other right in the face. He put his hands behind his head, and I laid my arms crossed over his chest, setting my chin in my hands.

“You never did say how many people have slept in this bed,”

“Over the years, I’d say a good handful,” I was feeling playful, and wanted to see what he would do. He bit my lower lip again, a little harder this time, but by no means painful. This time he ran his tongue against the piece of my lip he had trapped.

“Try again.”

“Four at once.”

“That’s better.” I watched him unwind his hands from behind his head, and set them on my hips. “Let’s try another one. How many people have fit in this bed, at once, not for sleeping.”

“Six or seven, depending on their level of participation.” I slowly sat up, unfolding myself upwards from his torso, stretching up – one hand, then the other. Jason’s eyes were riveted on my tits, still locked in my sports bra. This particular sports bra was by no means boring - this bra had a mesh panel that showed a pretty generous amount of my cleavage. He made no move to remove it, which if we’re being honest, kinda surprised me. However, I wasn’t entirely sure how he got into my apartment for a second time, so Jason was just full of surprises.

Jason started moving my hips with his hands; his hands splayed out across my hipbones. His grip was firm, and the more I ground myself into his growing erection, the harder his fingers dug into my sides. He was using just the right amount of pressure, both with his hands and pressing me into him. I knew the front of my white boyshorts were darkened and soaked. I’m sure that hadn’t escaped Jason’s notice, either.

I resisted the urge to just rip off both of our underwear and take him, right there. Instead, I snuck two fingers past the waistband of my panties into my inner labia, to gather some of that wetness. I then offered those two fingers to Jason, which he greedily took into his mouth, his eyes closing quickly and a sigh escaping at the same time. The feeling of his tongue on my fingers was exquisite. My FINGERS. He made sure to hold my gaze the entire time my fingers were in his mouth. Once the last of me had been licked, sucked, nibbled and bitten off those two fingers, he released them.

“Was that an…invitation, or a preview of future pleasures?”

“Which…would you prefer?” I was distracted, my voice breathy, by his hands on my hips, which had increased pressure both pressing into my skin, but also pushing me onto him.

“I can’t say I mind the idea of a repeat performance in the near future.”

“Buuut?”

“I’m-“ he stopped and inhaled “really, really enjoying this.” He emphasized the last word by moving his hands from my hips to my ass, spreading my ass cheeks apart, and pushing himself up with his hips.

That earned a long, throaty moan from me, and a sly grin from Jason.

“Thought you might like that.” Jason took that opportunity to flip us, using the same motions as he had before, in my hallway. He was resting in between my legs, and my legs were wrapped around his waist. “Now then. Let’s see what else Thea likes.”

“Thea likes this,” I said, poking him in the shoulder.

“Oh, those results came back, then?” Jason’s voice changed when he was happy. I hadn’t known him long, but I knew that made him happy. His voice was different – it was lighter, somehow.

“They did, and they were quite conclusive.” I scrunched my face up, biting my lip, because Jason had just leaned down and started nuzzling my neck with his nose, and it tickled.

“Does Thea like this?” he asked, of the nuzzling.

“Thea does, but I have to warn you – and I’m serious – please be careful when you tickle me; if I tell you to stop, please stop.”

“Ok, no means no, and stop means stop, no questions asked – that’s…just basic consent?” The look on his face clearly meant he wasn’t quite understanding.

“No, I mean, specifically with tickling – I AM ticklish – if you go too far, I might hurt you.”

“I find that hard to believe, but alright.” Jason sounded dubious.

“I broke a friend’s jaw once, with my elbow, because he didn’t stop when I told him to.”

“No SHIT.”

“I have really sturdy elbows.”

“Now I kind of want to test your elbows out, Thea.” I didn’t quite know what to make of the glint in his eyes. He looked kind of like a high school kid who was really excited about a science project. It was that kind of glint. “Not with tickling. I like my jaw the way it is.”

“Same.” I said, and ran my lips and tongue along both sides of his jaw. I relished the growl I felt vibrating in his chest.

Jason scooched back on the bed a bit, and pulled me down with him. He must have seen my scrunched-up face of confusion, because using that voice again, he said “How would Thea enjoy being pinned down?” He and I had locked eyes, and I knew he was asking for my permission – GodDAMN this man was incredible – the act of gaining consent was making me wetter.

“Yes, please,” I almost begged. Jason grabbed both my hands and pulled them over my head so quickly, pinning them to the bed with one hand.

“Thea must really enjoy this, for me to earn a ‘yes, please’.” Jason was watching my eyes intently as he said it.

“Thea really enjoys it because of you and how you put me here.” I was looking up at him through my eyelashes, and saw that same something flash through his eyes again.  
Jason was now laying on top of me, kind of laying his lower half to one side, which made me whine. He decided to make a game of it, moving back on top of me, which made me sigh contentedly; then he moved back to the side, making me whine again.

“You don’t know how adorable you look when you pout,” he whispered in my ear, his lips touching my earlobe. He then bit my earlobe gently, sending shivers down my spine. From the bite, he proceeded to suck it into his mouth, gently biting.

I was tired of not touching him more, so I pulled one of his legs over my stomach, and kept my hands on it.

“My spider monkey is back,” he said softly into my ear. He’d moved on from my earlobe, nibbling his way down my jaw and neck. I could tell he was trying very hard not to leave hickeys, which I greatly appreciated.

“I like touching as much of you as I can. You feel good to me.” I said simply.

“You feel good to me, too,” he said, running his free hand up across my stomach, to cup one of my breasts. He’d gotten several guttural, instinctual moans out of me when a mechanical scream sounded from the other room, and startled the shit out of Jason. 

He dropped his hands and sat bolt upright. “What the FUCK was that?”

It sounded a second time, and I sighed. “That, unfortunately, is my brother.” I sat up, moving around him to move off the bed and grab my phone.

“Your brother sounds like R2D2 when he’s being dragged through a trash compactor?”

“Close! That is indeed, one Mr. R2D2 shrieking. That’s Gabe’s text-tone. He’s my oldest brother.”

“Why on Earth are you leaving me alone in this ungodly huge bed to answer it?”

“Because he’s GCPD SWAT. I can’t ignore his texts. It could be something important.”

“Huh,” I heard Jason say from behind me in the bedroom. While I was in the other room, I grabbed one of Jason’s shirts from the floor and threw it on. I crawled back into bed with Jason, curling up next to him lying there in the middle. I slung one leg over his legs, so there was more skin to skin contact.

“You’re commandeering my shirts now? Why are you wearing clothing?”

“It’ll be necessary, I guarantee it.” Jason gave me major side-eye, but said nothing.

“WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW, T?” Gabe never used all caps unless it was…important. Something happened.

“I’m at home, why?”

“Something nasty is going on at the hospital. You’re sure you’re not there?”

“Swear to God, G. I am at home.

“Proof of life.” He meant a photo. I rolled my eyes. I took a picture of Jason’s and my legs intertwined together, in bed.

“WHOSE LEGS ARE THOSE, T.”

“Go save my patients.”

“WHOSE LEGS, T.”

“Don’t die, please.”

“ARE YOU WEARING CLOTHES.”

I looked at Jason with a “told you so” look in my eye, and asked him to take a picture of me, just chest up. Jason did so, tipping his head to me by way of acknowledging my rightness. I sent Gabe the picture.

“WHO TOOK THE PHOTO, THEA. IT ISN’T GARRETT, IS IT?”

“It’s not Garrett, Gabe. Go do your job. Love you.”

“Who’s Garrett?” Jason asked, reading this whole conversation over my shoulder.

“He’s my boss.”

“Why’s your brother worried you’re in bed with your boss?” Jason asked with as ‘YUCK’ a face as I think was possible for him to make. “Is that a…thing?” Jason narrowed his eyes, and I swear he sounded…concerned.

“No, it is not. We dated like a million years ago, when he was in med school and I was in nursing school. Dude’s married now.” I rolled my eyes. “It is not a thing.”

“Why’s your brother flipping his shit over it?”

“It’s…complicated.”

“Complicated like I should be concerned, complicated?” Jason asked, a question in his eyes as he looked at me.

“Why would you be-?” I shook my head. “No, it’s complicated like he’s my brother’s best friend, and married, and Garrett has a not so subtle crush on me, and makes family gatherings super awkward and annoying. Also, his wife is a fucking harpy and I wish she would just go ahead and die already.”

Jason laughed out loud. “Tell me how you really feel,” he said, still chuckling.

“No, for real, this woman – she fucking HATES me because Garrett has an unrequited crush on me. And she’s not subtle about it. I can’t tell you the number of times she’s called me a whore, or a slut, or a homewrecker – and I haven’t touched that man in over TEN YEARS. Gabe, my mom and dad and I have become experts at strategic planning of events because I try to avoid both of them if at all humanly possible.”

“She sounds like a goddamn DELIGHT.”

“I want to run her over with a steamroller.” I huffed out a breath. “Well. If that wasn’t a mood killer, I don’t know what is.” I flopped back on the bed, frustrated. I looked at my watch. It was late. “You are welcome to stay over, if you’d like. Bathroom’s thataway” I wiggled my hand toward the end of the bed – the bathroom was at the other end of my bedroom, directly across from my bed. You couldn’t miss the dark wood paned glass French doors. “Help yourself to my toothbrush, or I have extras, if you want.”

Jason looked at me, propping himself up on one arm, and putting the other over my stomach. “Do you want me to stay?” 

I couldn’t tell if I had weirded him out or not, and freaked out a little. I put my hands up in the universal ‘I surrender’ gesture. “I didn’t mean to presume- if that’s not your thing I didn’t mean-“

He put a finger to my lips to shush me. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you want me to stay?”

“I..would like that, very much, I think, yes.” I paused. “But do you want to stay?”

“I also would like that very much.”

I smiled wide, very, very happy, and clapped. “Yay!”

I saw him roll his eyes, and he kissed the side of my head. “You are such a dork.” But he was smiling just as wide as I was when he said it. He looked at me, critically. “You never ate when you got home, did you?”

I had to think. It’d been a looooong night. “No. I got home, you were here, bo staff, floor, yum, and here we are.”

Jason laughed out loud again, for a while. I loved hearing him laugh, it was like hearing sunshine, if that made sense. Honestly, being around him made me feel like the sun was shining on me. It sounds so cliché, I know it. But it’s true. I watched him get up out of the bed, and put on his cargo pants.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, walking into the other room, unlocking my front door, and shutting it behind him. 

He was gone for about 5 minutes. While he was gone, I picked up my gi, folded it, and put it on the dresser in my bedroom. I heard the front door open, saw Jason walking back into the bedroom carrying something, strip out of his cargos, and pull on a pair of sweatpants that he’d been carrying.

“It’s very convenient having a closet full of your clothes one floor down. Tim says hey, by the way.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s go get you something to eat,” Jason said, taking my hand and pulling me into the kitchen.

I sat and watched him make himself at home in my kitchen again, and I have to say, he looked good there. I think Jason would look good anywhere, but that’s beside the point. He ended up making the best damn tofu stir-fry I’d ever had.

“You are a really good cook,” I told him, mouth full of stir-fry. “This is delicious.”

“You are a really good audience, and also have a delightfully well-stocked kitchen.” He said, smiling so wide he was beaming.

I opened my mouth to say something, then thought better of it. He noticed.

“You were about to say ‘I could get used to this’, weren’t you? I was thinking it too.”

Now I was the one who was beaming. Once we finished eating, I did the dishes quickly, and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Jason followed, leaning back on the counter next to me. I handed him the brush when I was done, and opened the drawer where the extras were, in the event he didn’t want to use mine. He used mine, making me smile. I went to grab a glass of water to take my nighttime meds, and used the bathroom in the half bath off the entrance hallway. When I got back to the bedroom, Jason was laying on top of the covers, just in his underwear. He saw my smile.

“I thought you’d like that,” he said, smiling back. “What do you usually wear to bed?”

I shrugged. “Depends on how cold it is, or if I have company. Usually tank tops.” I walked to my dresser by the window perpendicular to the bed on the opposite side of the bedroom, and pulled a white talk top out of one of the drawers. Facing him, I reached behind me and undid the four goddamn clasps on the worlds most industrial sports bra, pulling it off and throwing it on the floor, taking a moment to pause so he could…admire. And he did.

He took a deep, deep breath, his eyes wide and jaw slack. He shut his mouth before speaking. “My GOD you’re beautifully well put together.” He shook his head, looking like he was trying to clear his head.

I took that opportunity to pull on the tank top, and starting from the foot of the bed, crawled up to meet him.

“Hi,” I said, shyly.

“Hi yourself, good-lookin’. What say we snuggle down and bring this night of passion to a delightful close?”

My GOD. MY GOD. He just – he was just the.best. 

So we did. We pulled the covers (sheet and duvet) down under us, got under them, and I curled into his right side, his right arm under me, holding me to him. I leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the lips, which he returned just as gently.

I told Alexa to turn off the bedroom, and the lights went out.

“That’s handy,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

“This bed is so damn big – it was a necessity.”

We stayed silent for a few minutes, but I knew he was still awake, because his left arm was aimlessly drawing on my leg that I put over his stomach.

“Yeah, I could definitely get used to this,” he said softly, as he squeezed me with his right arm, while kissing the top of my head.

“Truth,” I said into his chest. “Goodnight, Jason,”

“Goodnight, Thea. Sweet dreams.”

“You, too,”


	6. I'll just call him Red Hood Ornament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Thea play Injustice 2! And Jason reveals his UNCANNY knowledge of Nightwing's fighting strengths. 
> 
> Jason's become a semi-permanent fixture in the Byrne apartmenthold; much to Thea's confusion. And when there's confusion...it causes friction. C'mon, y'all walked right into that one.
> 
> We're getting there. Patience, friends.

I had met both the Red Hood and Jason last Friday. ONE WEEK AGO. After our first sleepover, Jason started staying over pretty regularly (I mean, it’d only been 7 days, so ‘regular’ was relative, I guess). I’d come home and find him either cooking, or reading, or playing my PS4. We played a couple fighting games together - Mortal Combat X, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Dead or Alive 6, and my favorite, Injustice 2.

For whatever reason, Jason took Injustice 2 personally. Like, weirdly personally. I loved playing it because, COME ON, for good or for bad, these are MY PEEPS. Like, Catwoman! Batwoman! Batman! Any of the 7 million Robins that have ever existed in Gotham at one time or all at once (that happened, and it was WEIRD).

The first time we played together, Jason told me he’d never played it before, so I went easy on him. I played this with my best guy friend Ben Thompson all the time (when he was home; he was a security contractor for a private firm in DC so he was on the road a lot, and stopped home when he was able to). Since it was his first time, I chose a less powerful character (Nightwing) and Jason, strangely, chose Red Hood.

“What, THAT asshole?” I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out of my head. Disgust was plain on my face. 

The look on Jason’s face could not have said more clearly ‘WHAT is your deal with this dude?’ “Why the Red Hood hate?”

“I should just start calling him Red Hood Ornament – I’ve run into him a couple times and he seems to have a bizarre fascination for my car.”

“Really?” Jason asked, sounding skeptical. “You’ve met him?”

“I don’t know if we’ve officially ‘met’ perse, but his ass has some sort of relationship with the hood of my car. He’s shown up a couple times and just sits on my car and is a dick about it.”

“He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”

“No, nothing like that. He just shows up out of nowhere and…is annoying.”

“He’s annoying?” Jason all but snorted, the amusement on his face plain.

“It’s just…he must have better shit to do than bother me, especially on weekends when the crime spikes in Gotham.” I paused. “Anyway, enough about the Red Annoyance. Let’s play.”

“Nightwing’s overrated.” Jason said, looking at me.

“Oh, I know. I wanted to give you a fighting chance, that’s why I chose him. He’s not a strong fighter.”

Jason laughed out loud so loudly I’m sure Tim could hear him downstairs. He was smiling a smile I couldn’t quite decipher. Then he said something so oddly specific I couldn’t help but ponder it for a while. “Nightwing’s an acrobat – he’s better with aerial attacks, you should try those.”

I know I had a puzzled look on my face when I asked him “I thought you hadn’t played this before,” and I swear a look of ‘oh, SHIT’ cross Jason’s face for just an instant.

“I played the first one, same difference, right?” He said quickly.

Having played the first one, he wasn’t wrong. “True.”

Even having never played it before, he kicked my ass in under a minute. I’m a SORE loser.

“All right, that’s enough of that. I’m switching characters.”

“Who’s your strongest?”

“Hellboy.” I said, without hesitation. I’d grown up reading my brother’s issues of Hellboy, and his series was by far my favorite graphic novel series. Followed closely by Lazarus, and M3.

“Really.”

“Just watch me go,” I said with a wicked smile. I beat him that time, handily.

“Ok, now, that was just unfair! You clearly have more experience with this game than I do!”

Apparently I wasn’t the only sore loser here. “Want me to switch back to Nightwing?” I asked, trying to hide my smile.

“Nah. Let’s play something else.”

“How are you with zombies?” I asked. Something flashed through Jason’s eyes that I couldn’t quite read – I didn’t know if it was distaste, or un-comfortability, but it only lasted a second.

He shrugged. “I’m game.”

I loaded 7 days to die. It’s a zombie survival building game. It’s fucking HARD, even on beginner. I’d started playing it with my BFF Lexi (short for Alexandra) who lived in London with her husband. She and I had met in middle school, and went to high school together, and she studied abroad for university, and met her husband there. The last time I visited, she and I started a co-op game at their house, and when I came home, we started up our own private server, and kept playing.

We played for a couple hours, but I could tell it was more my thing than his. We exited the game, and by that time, it was dinnertime. Having seen him so much, I’d had my fair share of Jason breakfasts/lunches/dinners. So, 7 days in, I was being really well fed, sleeping pretty well, and – physical without being physical with this super-hot dude that just kept showing up at my house. In other words, I had no idea what was going on. Did I just gain a squatter roommate? Is he a live-in not booty call? HOW DID HE KEEP GETTING INTO MY APARTMENT?

All valid questions. What I DID know, Jason was FUN. He was smart, funny, and thoughtful. It still felt like the sun was shining on me when we spent time together, so I figured I'd just roll with it.


	7. “Not dying, screams of fun, please don’t call the cops, Tim"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **PLEASE TO NOTE THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS F/F SEXYTIMES - IF EXPLICIT SEXUAL LANGUAGE IS NOT YOUR THING, YOU MAY WANT TO SKIP**
> 
> This may not have been the smutty chapter you were expecting, but it's the one you get for now.
> 
> Jason comes to see Thea at a bout for the first time! But doesn't tell her! Someone else told her they were coming! (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) And, awkwardness ensues.

The next day, Jason came to his first bout. That was…awkward. He hadn’t told me he was coming, so I had no way of knowing he’d be there. 

We were playing one of the NYC teams, so it was nice to kind of take it easy (sorry, ladies, but it is what it is). I was back to blocking, which is my personal favorite position.

My friend Celia had texted to let me know she was coming to watch and I was excited to see her, because I hadn’t seen her much this week. My schedule had been funky because I’d covered for another nurse in the ER who was taking PTO, and I ended up working shifts I wouldn’t normally.

So there I was, the bout was over, I’d just put on my converse after taking my skates off, and up comes Celia to say hi. She was wearing a knee length yellow dress that contrasted *very* nicely with the darkness of her skin. The color of her dress picked up the amber flecks in her brown eyes, and I’ve always loved her eyes. I don’t get to see her out of either uniform (EMT or derby) very often, so this was a treat; she came to see *me* play, for fun. It made me feel really special. Celia was seriously one of the coolest ladies I know.

“Hey girl! I’m so glad you ca-“ was all I managed to get out before her tongue was in my mouth and her arms were around me, and my arms were around her, and she was biting my tongue, and my lips, and pulling out my ponytail and I swear to God we probably would have had sex right there on the track….when Jason walked up.

I was facing him, Celia had her back to him, and my eyes must have been as big as dinner plates as I felt my stomach drop to the floor. “Celia,” I tried to say as she bit on my tongue. I put my arms between us and gently pushed her off of me. “Celia.” I tried again, and I was literally pushing her away while she still had a grip on my tongue. I pinched her earlobe to get her attention, since pushing and calling her name had no effect. “Celia.” I said, and she finally returned to the land of the living. I pulled completely away from her, and stepped around her to stand between her and Jason.

“Hi, I didn’t know you were coming tonight!” I said over the clatter of everyone else in the rink.

“Obviously!” Jason said, smiling. To his credit, he didn’t look angry (yet). “Who’s this?”

“Celia, this is Jason. Jason, this is Celia. She plays on the Bludhaven team.”

“So who’s this dude, and why is my tongue not still in your mouth?” Celia asked with attitude, pissed that I’d interrupted her attempt to have sex with me still fully clothed.

“A lot happened, this week,” I said, making a face.

“Gimme the cliff notes version, my tongue has places it wants to go on your body,”

I saw Jason chuckle, and I swear I heard him say “Amen,”

“Uh, Jason and I started hanging out, this week-“

Celia turned to Jason. “Hanging out – that means you’re just friends and Ivy here’s still a free agent.”

“Weeeell-“ I said, making a face. Jason seemed to be leaving all this up to me. “I mean, technically, Celia’s not wrong.”

“Technically,” Jason repeated, making me sigh. “I’ve gotten pretty familiar with that Alaskan King this week…” Jason said, finally speaking up.

“Are you planning on enjoying the Alaskan landscape tonight? Because if you are, you may be getting additional company.” Celia said, making Jason chuckle.

“Interesting offer. But no, I can’t tonight, that’s why I came by – to say hi, and I’ll see you later.” Jason walked over to me, gave me a serious hug, and kissed the side of my head.   
“Have fun, Ninjago,” he whispered in my ear. He winked at me, and walked away. I hated to see him leave, but damn, did I enjoy watching him go.

Celia said she’d meet me at my place (she’d been over a couple times before, but never for…this) because we drove separately. We found pretty good parking spots, and I swear to God she was actually pushing me up the stairs to get me to move faster.

Once we were inside the apartment and the door shut behind us, her tongue met my mouth again so quickly I hadn’t even dropped my gear on the floor. My jersey ended up on the couch, my shoes and socks ditched at the front door, my shorts on a barstool, my sports bra on the kitchen counter, my tights somewhere on the kitchen floor, and my underwear God knows where. My outfit was certainly more cumbersome than Celia’s, who was wearing – so help me – a dress. That’s it. That landed in the front hallway, the very first thing discarded.

Her mouth still busy in my mouth, she asked “Bedroom” and I pointed behind her. Her hands were everywhere, and she still managed to pull me into the bedroom, and all but throw me on the bed.

“So that’s an Alaskan King,” she said, making a note of it, then moving on to more interesting parts of my anatomy. “Head of the bed. Now.” She commanded, pointing. I moved.   
She joined me, pulling my body where she wanted me, kicking my legs apart, and moving her knee right up against my crotch, and laying across my torso, taking my right breast in her mouth and sucking, hard. I inhaled sharply, and she started playing with my nipple with her tongue.

My hands were busy, too – pulling her hair, trying to pull her back up to kiss her again, which she would NOT allow. I felt her knee pull away, and her knee was replaced with two fingers on either side of my labia. She rubbed them up and down a couple times, taking note of my moans and squirming. She slipped both fingers inside me, and pushed, gently. I must have made an acceptable amount of noise, because she released my nipple and moved her head down replacing her fingers (momentarily) with her mouth on my clit. She was an expert – not that I was surprised. She’d been moving so quickly (so.quickly.) with everything, I’d barely had time to register that I was horny, let alone dripping wet. She replaced her fingers inside me, and within seconds she’d found the spongy tissue at my front wall, and started strumming me like I was an instrument. Combined with her tongue licking, pulling, sucking on my clit, I came in less than a minute.

She pushed herself up and joined me at the head of the bed, where I was still catching my breath.

“So, you’re a screamer,” she said and before I could reply she kissed me like her life depended on it. 

I pulled away, trying to still my heart rate. “Celia, SLOW DOWN!” I exclaimed, breathless.

“No. My goal is to make you come until you pass out.”

“Celia, are you on drugs?” I was serious. I checked her pulse on her neck, and it was rapid, but not ‘I’m on amphetamines’ rapid. “Or, *should* you be on drugs?”

“No. Have you fucked him yet?”

“What?” I asked, not understanding her.

“That dude, from the rink. You fucked him yet?”

I was too confused to figure out why she was asking. “No.” I paused. “Celia – what’s the hurry?! I want to fuck you, too!”

“Look. I have wanted you for *months*, and it looks like this may be my only shot to literally fuck you to sleep. I want to make the most of the time I have.”

I had absolutely no idea what to say to that, and that must have been written all over my face.

“I know, I should have said something sooner. I wish I would have said something sooner. Ok, less talk, more tongue on your clit.” She went to move back down my body, but I stopped her.

“Yeah, no. That’s not how I roll. Lay down.”

“No.”

“Either you lay down, or I will do it for you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” she said, cocky.

Celia and I had never talked about what else I did in my spare time before. She was flabbergasted when I wrapped my right leg around her waist, tightly, and my right arm around her torso, and tipping our bodies to the left, I flipped us over so she was on her back, and I was laying on her.

“What the FUCK, T.”

“I told you I’d do it for you, and I did.” I kissed her deeply, not as intensely as she’d been kissing me, but just as passionately, then moved from her mouth down her neck, to her chest. I busied myself with her tits for a while, taking one in my mouth while massaging the other with my hand, then switched sides. Every time I focused on a nipple, she groaned. She was not quite as well endowed as I am, so I wouldn’t have been able to push them together to get both at once. Alas. I moved on from her tits, down her stomach, bypassing the good parts, and parted her legs wide (but not uncomfortably so).

“You got a problem with hickeys, here?” I asked, poking her where I wanted to place said hickey.

“From you? FUCK no.”

So I started sucking on the parts of her inner thighs, right where they joined her groin. I knew that was going to drive her fucking insane, and it did. I slid my tongue up and down, sucked hard, tried biting (that’s a tricky area to reach) both sides. She was LOSING HER MIND above me.

“Please, Thea, please, please”

“Please what, Celia? If this is going to be a one time deal, Ima make sure you remember it.”

“Thea, please, please” she begged.

“Please what, baby? Tell me what you want.” I asked her, my face *very* close to her labia.

“I want you to fuck me with your mouth and your fingers.”

“As you wish,” She was soaking wet, so lubrication was not an issue here. I inserted one finger inside her, to test the waters.

“More,” she groaned.

I inserted a second finger, then a third. I pushed apart her labia with my mouth, and began licking her clit, softly at first, wanting her to guide me.

“Harder, both,”

So I did. My fingers started moving in and out with more force, and then more, when she begged again. I was licking much more quickly, sucking occasionally, letting her guide me to exactly what she wanted. I felt her vaginal walls starting to contract around me, but not in the ‘I’m coming’ way, more in the ‘I’m full’ way, and I did my best to turn my fingers to find the spongy tissue. I ended up having to flip myself so I was laying in the opposite direction from her, but I managed to find a good angle to be able to pull my fingers against that ridged, now very spongy tissue, and still ensure I was able to lavish her clit with attention at the same time. Her panting and moans above me started coming faster and louder, and she reached out her hands to grab whatever part of me she could and she gripped HARD.

“Thea, please don’t stop, please don’t stop – ohmygod- yes, please-right there-ohmyg-“ and at that point, she started screaming, and a rush of liquid spilled past my hand. I kept moving my fingers, getting her as empty as I could. I wasn’t sure if she’d ever squirted before, but I knew from experience that having some left over was uncomfortable. I would have told her to push, but if she hadn’t done that before that would have sounded WEIRD and that is the opposite of sexy, in most cases. I waited until her breathing slowed, then sat up, and kissed her.

“I’ll be right back, I gotta grab my phone.”

“Thea, WHAT THE FUCK.”

“I need to text the guy who lives below me that we’re not dying, and please don’t call the cops.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Celia said, nodding.

I brought my phone back with me, having texted Tim “Not dying, screams of fun, please don’t call the cops, I have very enthusiastic company.”

“Tell Jay I say hi, I guess.”

“….it’s not Jase.”

Tim sent back the “Shocked/Oh Shit” emoji

“He’s aware. Enjoy your evening! If you see Conner, tell him I say hey! I have someone to whom I must attend.”

I threw my phone on my nightstand and crawled back to Celia.

“He won’t call the cops,” I said, smiling.

“Jeeesus, Thea.”

“C, it could have been my BROTHER showing up. That is NOT the call I need him to answer tonight.”

“No, I wasn’t talking about that. Shit, girl. How did you – WHERE did you – MY GOD, Thea.” She flattened a pillow to her face and screamed “WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG FUCK MY LUCK.”

“So, I’d get a positive review on Yelp, I’m assuming.”

“100 out of 10, would definitely recommend.” She put the pillow next to her. “Did you go to school for that.”

“Has no one ever done that for you before?”

“What WAS that?”

“That was a combination of hitting your g-spot and you squirting. Have you ever noticed after good sex sometimes you feel full, inside? Like it’s a fullness kind of where you feel like you need to pee, but it’s NOT that?”

“Yes.”

“That’s female ejaculate. I just know how to make you release it, that’s all. It’s gonna sound weird, but just trust me – next time you’re masturbating, try hitting your g-spot with your fingers, and when you come, PUSH. You’ll figure it out. Also – towels, if you’re not on a toilet.”

“Ohmygod – I’m so sorr-“

I shushed her with a finger. “I give no shits, Celia. It’s just fine. Why don’t you go pee – just to make sure you don’t get a UTI.” 

When she stood up, her legs were shaky, so I got up and helped her to the bathroom.

“Want me to leave?” I asked, wanting to make sure I wasn’t invading her privacy.

“Nah, I don’t care.”

While she was finishing up, I brushed my teeth. I knew if her legs were that weak, there was no way she’d be up for more exciting clitoris adventures. I pulled out a new toothbrush for her, and set it on the counter.

“Thea, I swear to GOD I’ve had sex before.” She said, sheepishly.

“I know, baby. THAT takes it to a whole new level, and it can be exhausting.”

“I am,” she said, sounding embarrassed.

I waited until she was done washing hands/brushing teeth to take her face in my hands, and kiss her deeply, but gently.

“Let’s go to bed, hon.” I walked her back out to the bed and made sure she was safely in it before I went back to the bathroom to pee and take my meds, leaving the doors open. Once I was finished, I crawled into bed with her. She wrapped herself around me, and was asleep instantly. I kissed her head, then closed my eyes, and was out.


	8. I found your underwear in the sink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea finds Jason in her kitchen making breakfast the morning after her very personal introduction to the whole body of her friend Celia.
> 
> Intrigue! Hugs! And Breakfast!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I just discovered TODAY that you don't have to just cut/paste into HTML and then reformat the whole fucking thing so RICH TEXT HERE WE COME and now there will be italics GALORE. WOOOOOO!

I woke up the next morning (Sunday) to the smell of breakfast cooking. A Jason breakfast. I looked over and saw Celia still sleeping blissfully next to me, and thanked my lucky stars she was still out cold. I oh-so-gently slid out from under her, and waited to make sure she stayed asleep. My girl was a champion sleeper, apparently. I do have to hand it to my bed – it’s a _very_ good bed. I took a second to appreciate the scene before me – Celia was lying on her right side, stretched out (having been snuggled into my side prior to me vacating my comfy bed) head on her right arm, her left arm laying across her side, resting on her right arm. The bedcovers (all linens on my bed were white) were pulled down slightly to reveal the top of her left breast. Her black skin stood in stark contrast to my white linens, and she just looked so _serene_. I wished I had her permission to take a picture, but I didn’t, so I’d just have to commit this particular view to memory.

I slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, padded over to my dresser, and pulled on a pair of grey boyshorts and a black high-necked tank top. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, swiped at my hair, then walked quietly through the bedroom, laying a robe at the end of the bed for Celia. I shut the bedroom door behind me before walking into the living room/kitchen.

I sat at a barstool after moving my derby shorts to the next one and waited. First thing I noticed was Himself was dressed ultra-casually for Jason; a pair of black joggers with stipes on the sides, sneakers, and if I was seeing correctly, a t-shirt and only _one_ hoodie.

Jason looked over his shoulder at me, smiling a sly smile. “Y’all have a good time last night? I found your underwear in the sink,” he had a playful glint in his eyes when he said it.

I smiled back at him, looking down at the countertop. “We did. I did _not_ expect to see you this morning,” I told him. I honestly didn’t know the next time I expected to see Jason, but after last night, this morning making breakfast in my kitchen like *no big deal* was NOT IT.

“Y’know, I wanted to talk to you about that. Thinking about it last night, I realized I was _jealous_. That’s new.” Jason’s face was scrunched up, kind of like the face you’d make if you tasted something unfamiliar and weren’t quite sure about it.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say to that, so I told him.

“Yeah, me either. So I came over to make pancakes.”

“I’m glad to see you?” I said, hopefully.

“You are?” His tone of voice broke my heart. He wasn’t _sure_. He wasn’t sure if I’d be happy to see him. He sighed, as if in relief. “Ok, good.”

I walked over to him and gave him a _hug_. He was tall enough that he could rest his chin on my head, and he did. He hugged back just as hard.

“Just an fyi, I am 100% positive Celia will kiss me while you’re here.” I said into his chest.

“Oh, I’m expecting it,” he sounded like he was gritting his teeth. “I’m bracing myself for it.”

Celia chose that exact moment to open the bedroom door and step out looking delicious in my robe. “Am I interrupting-“ then she paused, and really looked. “A hug. You’re-hugging.”

“Yes, that is indeed what we’re doing.” Jason said, turning to look at her, his head still resting on my head.

“WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE? Do you have a fucking KEY?” she asked, throwing her hands up.

I’d pulled away from the hug and walked over to the front door where Celia’s dress was still on the floor. I picked it up and walked over to hand it to her, also very interested in Jason’s answer to her last question.

“Technically.” He gave me _a look_ when he said it. We’d be talking about that later, that’s for sure. “Come eat breakfast. There’s coffee.”

Celia looked at me, eyebrows reaching for the sky. “He cooks?”

Jason responded instead. “He does.”

“He _does_ ,” I said, sighing heavily. “So well.”

Celia and I sat at the counter (I had gathered up the rest of my clothes from last night, including my tights on the counter, and underwear from the sink) and Jason handed us both plates of pancakes and bacon. He handed me a coffee cup dressed *just* how I like it, and asked if Celia wanted coffee. Celia did. She took hers black, so Jason handed her a full cup.

Jason started eating standing up against the sink across from us, and I asked him to come sit, but he said no.

“I have a better view of you this way,” he smiled a little happy smile when he said it, and it still blew my mind that this tall, built dude could look so damn _cute_. Heart meltingly cute.

“Ohmygod this is DELICIOUS,” Celia exclaimed, mouth full, eyes closed, fully enjoying the pancakes and bacon. “Dude, who taught you how to cook?”

“My butler.”

“Your _what_ now?”

And that’s when it hit me. Jason was a WAYNE. Like, I knew in the back of my mind, because I knew who Tim was, and Jason was his brother, but Jason was the most opposite of spoiled rich kid I’d ever met. 

I opened and shut my mouth a couple times, and saw Jason watching me with amused interest. “Did you just _now_ put it together?” He asked me, smiling.

“Yes?” I said, cocking my head toward him. “Celia, this is Jason _Wayne_.”

“Wait, like Bruce Wayne, Wayne?” She asked me, pointing her fork at me, her mouth full of pancake, and she could not have looked cuter.

“Indeed. Bruce adopted me when I was 12.” Jason said from in front of us.

“So, you’re like a spoiled rich white kid?”

Jason laughed out loud. “Guess so,”

I fake whispered to Celia, loud “He’s not” shaking my head with added emphasis.

“Well, rich white kid or not, you sir are a _damn_ fine cook.”

“Why thank you,” he sounded pleased with the praise.

I turned to Celia “Hey, if you wanna shower, please feel free. I can get you towels from the bathroom, and I’m sure I’ve got a pair of smaller sweats and a t-shirt that’ll fit you around here somewhere.”

“I will definitely take you up on that. Wanna join me?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I smiled, but shook my head. “Ima pass, but thank you for the invitation,”

“Tim told me things got…rowdy last night?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “I may, or may not, have asked him not to call the cops.”

“’Screams of fun’, I think is what he told me?”

I pressed my lips together in embarrassment. He was teasing on purpose, I knew it.

“You know her downstairs neighbor?” Celia asked, with a weird look on her face.

“He’s my little brother.”

“Oh, is that how y’all met?”

“Yes,” Jason and I said in unison.

“Jason just showed up one day – and here we are!” I said, brightly.

Celia stood up, leaned over to me, and kissed me deeply. “Ima shower. You sure you don’t wanna join me? You gonna stay out here with this cutie?”

“It’s tempting, but I think I’m gonna eat a little more,”

At that cue, Jason put one more pancake on my plate. Celia walked into the bedroom and I followed, to dig up clothes that would fit her better than what sizes I was currently wearing. She had slimmer hips than I did, and was at least one shirt size smaller than me. I found a pair of medium sweats from years ago, and a medium t-shirt, and laid them on the bed for her, shutting the door behind me. I walked into the kitchen to grab more coffee, and Jason came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me.

“Rowdy, huh?” he asked, in my ear.

“Mhhmmmm” I murmured.

“I look forward to experiencing that.”

“Me, too. _Me, too_.” I repeated.

“How’d you even know if he could hear you?” he asked, making me press my lips together. “ _That_ loud, huh?” I could hear his eyebrows rising.

“He’s teased me about it before, now I just figure it’s a given.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Jason said, sounding thoughtful. “What’s on your agenda for today?”

“I need to make an unexpected trip to the laundromat!”

“Oh?”

“I have to wash my sheets.”

“Goddamn, woman. Go big or go home, huh?” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I mean, you excel at something, you don’t half ass it, you know?” I said, laughing.

“No, you do not.” He agreed, laughing with me. “Want some company for sheet washing?”

“I’d _love_ some. You’re _much_ more fun than reading a book.”

“You have _no_ idea,” Jason murmured, using _that_ tone, what I now referred to as his Sex God voice.

“Ugggghh, you two just ooze ‘happy couple’. Your cuteness is literally sickening to watch.” Celia said, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. She looked at Jason “So, shall I keep my hands to myself, now?”

Jason shrugged, looking thoughtful. “Well…it’s not just up to me,” He said that like he was testing out a new idea. “However, if you ever find yourself wanting additional…company, I’m sure we’d be able to negotiate something amenable to all parties involved,”

Celia looked up at him appraisingly, laughing out loud. “Oh, I _like_ you.” Looking at me, she said “Walk me out?”

I nodded and followed behind her. When we were outside, on the sidewalk, she grabbed my face and kissed me like she had yesterday at the derby.

“Wow,” I said, when she pulled away.

“Listen. That man is a _keeper_. I think he might need a lil’ work – and I’m sorry that may fall on you – but the way he _looks_ at you. Loooorrrrrd. How long’ve you known him?”

“A week?”

“Something cosmic is at work here. Like bigger picture stuff.”

“Celia.” I said, making a face.

“I’m _serious_. He looks at you and he doesn’t see anything else.” She paused. “And you two haven’t had sex yet?”

“Nope. We haven’t even kissed.”

“No shit. Really? REALLY?”

“Really. We’ve – I don’t know how to describe it, because we were both still in our underwear? We’ve been intimate, but not _intimate_ , if you know what I mean. And, like, we sleep together, but it’s just sleeping.”

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.”

I paused. “Honestly? I’m waiting for _him_.”

“I don’t get it. Like… _jump on that_ , girl!”

“Celia – he’s a _Wayne_! I can’t _imagine_ the amount of pussy he gets on a regular basis just based on his last name alone. I just, I feel like I’d just be ‘something to do’, y’know? I kinda get the feeling I could very well just be one of a string of long haired beauties, and in two weeks, I’ll be forgotten. And I don’t want that.”

“Babe, I can honestly tell you I don’t think he wants that either, but I get what you’re saying.” She took my hand and kissed me on the cheek. “So, if you have a free evening without your gourmet chef and feel comfortable with…additional company, call me. For real. I will drop what I am doing and come running.” Her face made me laugh, but she followed it up with “I’m not joking. Ok, I gotta run. This was _fuuuuuun_. You are amazing and I am an idiot for waiting.”

Celia kissed me once more, and we hugged, then she walked to her car and drove away.


	9. Why didn't you tell me I wasn't wearing any pants?

When I walked back into my apartment, I stood inside the hallway, right in front of the closed door for a long moment. I looked down at my bare feet, and bare ass legs (like, no kidding, Thea WHAT) and realized I’d totally just walked outside of my apartment in only my underwear.

I looked up to find Jason watching me quizzically, and I made my best “What the FUCK” face when I asked him “Why didn’t you tell me I wasn’t wearing any pants?” and both he and I just lost it laughing together. Jason was doubled over he was laughing so hard. I walked over to him and punched him on the shoulder. “Dude, don’t let me do shit like that!” I said laughing so hard tears were running down my cheeks. I sank down onto the floor, my head between my legs, my arms on my knees, almost sobbing I was laughing so hard.

“A) Asking _me_ to be the designated adult in this duo is daaaangerous and b) I don’t ‘let’ you do anything – I’m not the boss of you,”

Oh. Oh. Huh. I think he meant it to be funny, but coming on the heels of my conversation with Celia, talking about being just another stamp in his passport, that kind of stung. I know he didn’t mean it that way (I hoped he didn’t mean it that way) but it kind of confirmed my idea that this wasn’t a ‘serious’ thing.

I looked over at him and he was watching me, intently. He was frowning slightly, like he was trying to figure something out, maybe. He stood up quickly, and turned to face me.

“Spidermonkey,” he said, holding his hand out to me. We’d sort of worked out a routine; he’d say it, and I’d climb him like a tree. 

So I did. He helped me stand up from my position on the floor, and I stood on tiptoe to be able to wrap my right leg around his waist, and put my left arm behind his neck, and he did the rest.

We were face to face now. He pressed his forehead up against mine and said “Hey,”

“Hi,” I smiled, my arms locked around his neck.

“You good?” He asked, seriously. 

“Mmhhm” I nodded.

“Yeah?” He asked again, eyebrows up, like he didn’t _quite_ believe it.

“Yeah.” I said, trying to make it sound peppy.

“Shall we get started on stripping your bed?”

“Can we stay like this for a little longer?”

“I will gladly stay like this with you for as long as you want.” Jason sounded like he was trying to tell me something very important.

“Don’t your arms get tired, after a while?”

“Of you? No, no they do not.”

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. “…would they if I were not me, but the same general shape and size?”

“So help me, Ninjago, if you start in with any of that ‘I’m too heavy,’ bullshit-“

“No-that’s not what-“ I tried to interject but Jason just rolled right over it. He was on a _roll_.

“You’re _perfect_. Like, literal fucking perfection. Looking at you is just, mmph” he stopped himself, pressing his lips together. “I-I have very strong feelings about how good you look and how much I enjoy looking at you and I should stop talking very very soon or the words I use are going to verge into porn territory.” He stopped, taking a very deep breath. “I don’t care how much you weigh.”

I had to stop to process all that for a minute, deciding to chew on all that later. “I’m…glad? I don’t care how much I weigh, either. I like how I look.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at me, looking like he didn’t quite understand how we just got from point A to point C. “Well, then, we’re agreed on that. So…what did you mean? If that wasn’t a ‘tell me I’m pretty’ ploy?”

“Well, it definitely _wasn’t_ , but I won’t stop you from telling me,” I said, laughing. “Like, I know if I were trying to hold a ‘me’ sized person, _my_ arms would get fucking tired!”

He leaned down to whisper in my ear “Ninjago, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m a *little* bit bigger than you are,” He straightened up and looked me in the eye.

I bit my lip as I answered him “I’ve noticed,” I released my lip, slowly, then slooooowly moved up making sure to press my chest as closely to him as I could, to whisper “I don’t know if _you’ve_ noticed, but I _really_ like that,”

“Is that so,” he said, trying to be sly, but I _knew_ he was fishing.

“Hamburglar, do you want me to tell you I think you’re pretty?” I said, trying hard to contain my wicked smile, but failing.

“Yes, yes I would.”

“You have _the_ most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen, ever. Every time I make you smile it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something spectacular. Making you laugh is even better. Your shoulder to hip ratio is something I would be willing to give speeches on, in public. Looking at you without most of your clothes on is a gift, one that I am pleased you choose to bestow on me. Our size difference makes me feel small, and that’s unusual in my experience, and I greatly enjoy it. Also, your ass is spectacular.” I stopped, because he was looking…shellshocked was the best word I could come up with to describe it. “Did-did I say something wrong, Jason?”

He didn’t say anything for awhile, he just looked at me, peculiarly. He blinked a couple times before he spoke. “I- you – no one’s ever said anything like that to me before.” He said, softly.

My eyes got real big, and I started getting nervous. “Is that…good?” I was hesitant to ask, because for the life of me I couldn’t read the emotions on his face. “I’m getting worried that I made a grave mistake – Jason, did I hurt your feelings?”

He was a million miles away for a second, then he snapped back to focus on me. “What? No! Whatever the opposite of hurt feelings is, that’s what I feel.”

“Happy?” I suggested.

“Happy! Happy’s good. Yes.” He paused. “Can we go sit on the couch? Um, I love holding you, but it’s distracting. In the best way. But not right now.”

The level of awkwardness that Jason was currently displaying was both _adorable_ but also super unusual. Jason was the absolute opposite of awkward.

“Yeah, of course,” I said, and tried to get down but he wouldn’t let me.

“No, you can’t escape that easy,” he said in a goofy villain voice that made me laugh. He walked us over to the couch, then sat down and I moved off of him, reluctantly. I sat with my legs crossed in front of me, perpendicular to him, so I could look at him better.

“Ok. Where were we?” Jason asked, and I swear to GOD he looked nervous.

“I told you you were pretty and you looked like you wanted to throw up.”

Jason laughed out loud at that. “No, definitely not.” He took a deep breath. “Generally, the women that are attracted to me are only interested in my body and how they can use it. Their compliments are shallow and meaningless. No one has ever told me they find joy in making me smile, or laugh. I don’t know that anyone has actually been interested in doing it. I know you’re attracted to me, but you haven’t been pushy about getting physical; and that’s…new. You…like talking to me. You think I’m smart.”

“Jason, you _are_ smart.”

“No, it’s more – you took time to find that out because you wanted to. That’s something that’s an important quality to you.”

“Where on God’s green Earth were you finding this other horrible sounding women?”

“Airplanes, bars, clubs.”

“Man, I guess it really does take a good sandwich B&E to bring people together,”

“So. I guess what I’m trying to say is, you’re different, and I like it.” He paused. “Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.”

That made me laugh out loud. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “For the record, I think you’re something special, too.”

“That’s also new.”

Everything he was saying just kept breaking my heart over and over and over. I mean, I’ve had my fair share of shitty partners and one night stands, don’t get me wrong – but I’ve also had several people who have loved me _right_. And the way Jason made it sound, he never has.

I stood up from the couch. “C’mon, Something Special – let’s go strip the bed and get these sheets to the laundromat.”

I got dressed, and we got the bed stripped and all the laundry loaded into my car pretty quickly. The drive to the laundromat wasn’t long, but it was definitely better than trying to haul all that shit on foot.

Once we got there, I got the linens loaded in one of the industrial size washers and got that going, then hopped up on one of the tables for folding and pulled Jason in between my legs.

“Well, hello,” he said rubbing his nose on my forehead. I was holding both of his hands.

“Jason, how does one ‘technically’ have a key to an apartment, exactly?”

“I wondered when you were gonna get there.”

I made an ‘I’m waiting’ face.

“I borrow Tim’s master key.”

“Wait, Tim’s what?”

“He owns the building, Thea.”

“Wait, Tim’s what?” I said again, absolutely blown away.

“Did you not know that?”

“Wait, Tim’s what?” I said one more time, for emphasis.

“I guess not.”

“Tim owns the BUILDING?”

“Had ne not ever told you that?”

“No, that never happened to come up. Oh man, now I feel really shitty for being so loud.” I said, laughing guiltily.

“He really doesn’t mind, he’s just glad you check in to make sure he knows you’re not dying. Although he did tell me whomever came last last night seemed to have a better time than whoever was first.”

I laughed. “Oh man! I will really have to watch my volume in the future.”

“Were you first or last?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“I do.”

“I was first.”

“Oh.” He paused, seeming to search for what he was going to say next. “Would you mind if I asked for…details? Is that too weird?”

“How explicit do you want me to get?”

Jason’s eyes snapped up to mine. “Not that explicit. We’re in a public place, and I only have so much self-control.”

“Understood. Well. I was lucky Celia let me get into the apartment instead of trying to have sex with me outside. She had this grand plan of keeping that train going until I passed out from, um, finishing.”

“I appreciate you.” He said, laughing. “Then what happened?”

“Well, one sided play isn’t really how I roll.”

“Ok, and?”

“Let’s just say I taught Celia something new last night. And she enjoyed it.”

“Oh, COME ON. You can’t just leave it there! What was it???”

“I’m trying to respect your self-control, man!”

“Whisper it to me.”

“….how is that going to help your self-control?”

“Oh, it won’t, it’ll just be sexier.” 

I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud. I leaned in close to his ear “I taught her how to squirt last night.”

“Good God, woman,” Jason said, and I felt his hands gripping mine tighter. “So that means you…”

“Yes.”

“Fuuuuuuuuuuck me.”

“I would very much like to do that at some point.”

“How much time’s left on the washer?”

“Like 10 minutes.”

“Ok good. Talk to me about something SUPER boring.”

“What!?”

“It would be better if we stayed right where we are for right now.” He gave me a knowing look.

“Oh. OH. Hm. Boring. Hm. What do you want to have for dinner? Can you stay for dinner?”

“You, and yes I can.”

It took me a second, but I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly. “You’re not even _trying_.” I laughed.

“I have a very vivid imagination.”

“Hmm. What’s not sexy to talk about. Hmm. How many bones have you broken?”

“My own or someone else’s?” Jason answer was like a reflex, and I looked at him, startled.

“Uh, I meant your own, but now I want to know about other people.”

“My brother’s and I fight a lot.”

“Ok, how many siblings do you have, exactly?”

“Dick, he’s oldest, then me; then Tim; then Steph and Cass – they’re around the same age; then Damian. He’s the youngest.” Jason let go of my hands to spread them on either side of me, and he leaned in. “Now you.”

“I think I already told you about Gabe, he’s the oldest, he’s 5 years older than me.”

“He’s the cop.”

“Yep. Then there’s Mike, and he’s 2 years older than me.”

“What’s he do?”

“He’s one of the hosts at WGTM, the public radio station at Gotham University.”

“No shit!”

“My hand to God.”

“That’s a great radio station.”

“I know it.”

“When’s he on?”

“Mornings. He does mornings so he can be home with my sister-in-law Jenn and my two nieces at night.”

“How old are your nieces?”

“Audrey just turned 3, and Ella is one.”

“Are you the best aunt?” he looked at me expectantly, like he’d be disappointed if I said no.

“Well, technically, I’m their only aunt, but yes. I am Best. Aunt.” I heard the timer for the washer ding, and I looked at Jason. “Is it safe for me to move?”

“It is indeed. Family talk certainly calmed things down. Somewhat.”

I got up to switch the load from the washer to the dryer. Right after I shut the dryer door, my ass buzzed. I took out my cell, and had a text that made me throw both hands up in the air and shout “YEEEESSSSSS!” and jump up and down and clap. I saw Jason’s face and he was looking at me like I was disturbed.

“Y’allright over there?” he asked, looking very dubious.

I bounced my way back to him and continued to jump up and down with a stupid big grin on my face.

“BEEENNNN’S coming HOOOOMEEEEE.”

“That’s Mr. Star Wars Battlefront, yes?”

“YEEESSSSSSSSS. He’s coming HOOOOOMMMMEEE!!!” I said, still bouncing up and down.

“I have never seen _anyone_ so excited about the existence of another human being as you right now.” Jason said, looking delighted at my delight. “And that includes my various siblings and their girlfriends/boyfriends/others.”

“Ben is BEST HUUUMMMAAAN. I am SO excited. Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!”

“I would never have been able to tell,” Jason said, smiling and shaking his head. “Is this like, a Celia thing?” Jason asked, wincing.

“Oh no. You are definitely more his type than I am.”

“Oh.” Jason sounded surprised. “Huh. So, how did you and this guy meet, anyway?”

“Oh, we went to high school together. He was the captain of the football team when I was captain of the lacrosse team. He, uh, helped me through a really hard thing. And we’ve been best friends ever since.”

“Does he flip out about you the same way you do for him?”

“No he does not. But, he’s a 6’7” huge black guy. Our actions might not be construed the same way, if observed in public. Sadly.”

Jason sighed. “Damn.”

“Yeah, Ben usually asks that we say hi behind closed doors, so no one freaks out over this small white girl flipping her shit over this huge black guy.”

“Can’t you like, reign it in?” 

“No. Ben is BEST HUMAN. He DESERVES to be flipped out over, thank you. I think you’ll like him.”

“Do I get to meet him?” Jason asked, like he wasn’t sure.

“Sure, if you’re around when he comes over. He’s getting in tonight, but he’s seeing his family tonight. He said he’ll come over sometime this week.”


	10. The Delicate Art of Making Love to Jason Todd-Wayne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason finally gets to meet Ben! Thea and Jason finally have a meeting of the lips! Thea finally gets time with BEST. HUMAN.

Thursday. I’d gotten of work early, and was home earlier than expected. I wasn’t sure if Jason was gonna be there or not, but that was just kind of how it was now. I opened the door, leaving it unlocked and took one step inside and saw Jason sitting on the couch looking at me in utter shock, like he wasn’t expecting me…to walk into my own apartment?

“Hey,” I said, making a face. “Are you alr-“ was all I managed to get out before Jason, possibly the most graceful and least physically awkward person I’d ever met unsuccessfully attempt to vault himself over the couch. One of his feet got caught between my couch and the sofa table behind it and tripped him up He landed and was able to catch himself in a crouch before he faceplanted, then launched himself at me like a sprinter at the starting blocks.

Before I could even react, we were making out. And, DAMN. Full blown, messy, loud, biting, _hungry_ , ‘why have I waited so damn long’, make my knees weak, if you keep this up my panties will fucking drop, amazing kissing.

Hooooooooly shit. Boy howdy, this man is a _world class_ kisser. WORLD CLASS. Jason had a hand behind my head, gripping my hair and a hand roughly clutching the waistband of my scrubs, pulling me to him. I’m pretty sure I was fisting his hair with one hand and one hand was grabbing his ass.

“Tabs, who’s this dude?” A deep voice asked from behind me.

I felt Jason fall utterly still – like, in one moment he was all action, pulling, pushing, biting, licking – then the next moment it was like time fucking stopped. I took a deep breath and sighed, releasing the grip my teeth had on his lip, slowly removing my hands from his (perfect) body.

I turned around, my body blocking Jason’s in the event certain…things…had shifted around.

“Benny! Oh boy! This is, uh –“ I stopped, because for the life of me, I couldn’t remember Jason’s name. I was so dazed I was still coming down off the high of him trying to eat me alive.

“Jason.” Jason said behind me, chuckling. He put a hand on my waist as he reached around me to offer a hand to Ben.

“Hey man, I’m Ben.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, it’s nice to meet you.”

Benny looked at me, concerned. “Tabs, you ok? Your eyes aren’t focusing right,”

“We’ve, uh, that was the first time we’ve done that,” Jason said, rubbing a hand through the back of his hair, self-consciously.

“Damn, son, you must be some kind of kisser, I haven’t seen her eyes like this since sophomore year of high school.”

“He _is_ ,” I said dreamily. 

I felt Jason’s arm around me tighten, and he asked “You need to sit down? You good?”

I had to blink a couple times, and shake my head once or twice, but then I was back.

“Um, God, sorry, _that_ was embarrassing, my spacing out, I mean. So, Ben, this is Jason, Jason this is Ben; Ben’s my BFF, which you knew, and Jason’s…here,” I said not knowing what else to say. I heard Benny chuckle.

“Uh-huh,” he looked at me, like he was getting great enjoyment out of this entire situation.

“Back to hugs!” I said enthusiastically. I launched myself at him, much like Jason had at me, but without the whole kissing thing. Benny was so big I wasn’t able to wrap my arms around him, so I did my best. It was kind of like trying to hug a solid muscle wall. But Benny was able to wrap his arms around me (at least twice, really) and he did, picking me up off the floor and hugging me _hard_. Benny gives _amazing_ hugs. When he finally put me down, I started jumping up and down, clapping, saying his name over and over.

“She’s been like this all week,” Jason said, smiling.

“Well, you seem pretty good natured about it, so that’s something.”

“Has that been…an issue?” Jason asked, his brows furrowing.

“Yes.” Benny and I said in unison. Jason’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes got big.

“Doctor Douche, and some of his predecessors, were not thrilled with Benny’s one-person over-enthusiastic fan club,” I said making Benny snort. I turned to Jason. “So, long story short, Benny surprised me at work with a visit, and here we are. We gotta figure out something to eat, because I have practice tonight, to which I extend an invitation to the both of you, if you’d like.”

“Oh, I’m IN, girl.” Benny said, smiling wide. “Any chance to watch you and your elbows at work is an opportunity I will not turn down.”

“Why not,” Jason said, smiling directly at me. “Sounds good.”

I told the boys I needed to go put on my uniform before we headed out, so I changed out of my scrubs and into my tights, shorts, sports bra and jersey. Then I pulled on a pair of track pants over the shorts, so I didn’t look like either a rogue or a vigilante while we went to eat dinner. I pulled on my green converse, then walked back out to the living room to grab my gear bag. Jason said he’d ride with me, and Benny’d brought his own car, so we were driving separately. Benny’d gotten to pick our dinner destination, and (like I knew he would) he picked his very favorite sushi place that wasn’t too far from the rink.

On the way over, I slid my eyes over to Jason while I was driving. “So. You kissed me.”

“Noticed that, didja?” He said, a Cheshire cat grin on his face. I noticed he was watching my face intently out of the corner of my eye. “Thoughts? Questions? Concerns?”

“Are we allowed to do that again? Soon?”

Jason laughed at my use of “allowed”. “’Are we allowed’ oh my God, you are _such_ a dork it’s adorable. Yes, my lady, I am ‘allowed’ to kiss you whenever your heart desires. It would be my great pleasure.”

“I would very much like that, yes, please and thank you.”

“Enjoyed it, did we?”

“If Benny hadn’t been there I probably would have skipped practice, Jason.”

“Oh. OH.”

“Yeah. I _enjoyed_ it.”

“You aren’t the only one, Thea. I know there isn’t, but I swear to God you’ve managed to either write or magically procure “The Delicate Art of Making Love to Jason Todd-Wayne”. It’s like you know _exactly_ what to do – like you have a manual.”

I couldn’t help the little, happy ‘I got a gold star at school today’ smile that was pulling at my lips.

We made it to the sushi place without incident, and when it was time to order, I let Benny order for me, because we’d been coming here since we were in high school. Over the years, Benny’s traveled a LOT, and as such, has picked up several languages to help him do his job. He was able to order in perfect Japanese for both of us. When Jason went to order, he shocked the shit out of both of us by speaking in Japanese, too.

“You speak Japanese?” Ben asked, his face showing mild interest.

“Indeed.”

“You speak Japanese _well_.” Benny stated. It was not a question. They started conversing in Japanese, and I had absolutely no idea what they were saying. I waited.

“Ben asked me how many languages I spoke, and I told him.”

“How many?” I asked, so curious I just couldn’t hide it.

“Seven fluently. Also ASL. Several others I’m able to converse in, but it’s choppy.”

“Where’d you learn them?” That was Benny.

“Here and there. School.”

“What kinda school d’you go to that taught you Japanese?” Benny asked, looking curious but also skeptical.

“A Japanese one.”

It hit me again. “Oh yeah. Ben, I forgot to mention, Jason’s a Wayne.”

“Huh.”

Our food came, we ate and made small talk over our nigri and salmon rolls. Then it was time for me to head to practice. I told Ben and Jason they were welcome to take their time, I’d had roster stuff and other admin duties to do before practice actually started so they had some time. I said I’d catch up with both of them after practice for sure. They said they’d see me there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the next chapter will be from the perspective of Jason and Ben, therefore 3rd person, as Thea isn't present for the conversation that follows.


	11. How 'almost killed' was he?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Jason share a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note this chapter takes place without Thea present, and is therefore presented in third person, instead of first. This change of perspective was necessary to highlight the conversation between Jason and Ben.

Jason and Ben sat facing one another at their table, their bento boxes finished, each sizing the other up. Ben had his hands laced behind his head, watching the other man intently.

Truth be told, Jason was waiting for the ‘older brother’ talk, which he expected. He asked Ben if that’s what he (Jason) was in for.

“What? From me? HELL, no. She _has_ older brothers for that. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m not taking stock of the man in front of me.”

“Ah. You’re not going to threaten to kill me if I hurt her, anything like that?” Jason asked, wryly.

“You’ve met her. You should most definitely be more worried about _her_ trying to kill you than anyone else.”

Jason furrowed his brow at Ben, not quite understanding.

“11th grade, she almost killed a dude, I had to pull her off, it was a scene.”

“Wait, WHAT?” Jason exclaimed, dumbfounded. “How ‘almost killed’?”

“EMT’s said if he’d been without oxygen for just a few more seconds he’d’ve been dead.”

Jason’s face was a mask of “What the Fuck”.

“She hasn’t told you about it? There’s…more, but it’s not my story to tell.”

“She mentioned you helped her with something heavy in high school, but she didn’t go into detail.”

“She really doesn’t like to talk about it. She has PTSD. That’s all I’m gonna say. My girl does not play.” Ben paused. “But she likes you.”

“How do you know?”

“Aside from walking in on you two trying to eat each other alive, you were presumably in her apartment when she was not. She trusts you. There aren’t many people besides me and her family that have keys to her place. In fact, I’m not sure there are _any_ people besides me, you, and her family that have keys to her place.”

“Boyfriends don’t get keys?”

“Not in my experience.” Ben stopped for a minute. “Speaking of which – does she know you’re dating? Are you dating? Or is she just ‘something to do’?” Ben’s eyebrows rose expectantly.

“We haven’t talked about it. She is not just ‘something to do’.”

“Huh. Does she know that? Might be a conversation worth having, or not, depending on how you want things to go.”

“That isn’t just up to me.”

“That’s what the conversation’s _for_ , man.”

“I will take that under advisement.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I hope things work out.”

“Why’s that?”

“I would do anything for her. Anything. She is truly my very best friend. And I love her, but we play for different teams. But I see the way you look at her. You look at her like you see a future there. And I think you might be able to give her the future she deserves.”


	12. I bet under that get up you’re 100% made out of knives

Bout night, the Saturday after Jason met Ben. This was an away game, and normally, I’d ride in the bus with the other girls, but Ben was coming and that meant I got to ride in his suuuuuupppper sweet, super comfortable, super luxury Infinity SUV. I loved when Ben drove; he always drove like he was Idris Elba in an action movie where Idris Elba drives cars quickly and with competence. He also had seat warmers, and it was early spring, and they were nice.

We were playing the Garden State Roller Girls tonight, and it wasn’t a real far drive; we figured it’d take about an hour to get there. So we had time to chat.

“So you like this dude.” Ben said. He wasn’t asking.

I nodded, unsure of what else to say.

“So what’s the deal with him?”

“Whatd’ya mean?”

“He’s obviously got a key. Why are you keeping him hidden?”

“What do you mean, keeping him hidden? You met him!”

“Well, yeah, but like – out places.”

“You literally had dinner with the two of us out at a restaurant two nights ago.” I rolled my eyes, hard. “Just say it, Benny,” I said with a smile.

“What?”

“Whatever it is you want to say but are too chickenshit to verbalize.”

“Oooh, them’s fightin’ words, girl!”

I laughed out loud. “Come ON, Ben. Spill it. WHAT?”

“Why haven’t you asked him out?”

I made a face. “He doesn’t seem that interested in it.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, I mean, I slept with Celia a couple weeks ago, and he was cool-ish with it,”

“Wait, WHAT? You who now?”

“She’s on another derby team in Bludhaven, and an EMT, so I see her a lot through work.”

“And you fucked her.”

“Well, and with vigor,” I said smiling.

“That’s my girl,” he laughed. “And Jason…rolled with it?”

“I think? I mean, Celia all but dragged me by my hair out of a bout after she and Jason had discussed if I was a ‘free agent’, and Celia slept over, and Jason showed up the next morning to make us breakfast. Then he came with me to the laundromat to wash the sheets. That’s when you texted.”

“So, wait, that was LAST WEEKEND?”

“Yeah.”

“You meet the most interesting people. Y’all slept together yet?”

“Nope. You literally walked in on our first kiss.”

“No joke.”

“No joke.”

“You planning on sleeping with anyone besides him in the near future?”

“No.” I looked at Ben, narrowing my eyes. “What did y’all talk about after I left?”

“You talk to him about 11th grade yet?”

“I told him you helped me through a big thing. That’s it.”

“Well, he knows you almost killed that motherfucker, and I intervened. I didn’t tell him why, though.”

“Why you intervened, or the other part?”

“Any of those parts.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Tabs.”

“I know.”

We got to the bout around the same time as the rest of the team, and all things considered, everything went pretty smoothly (We had a couple girls that couldn’t make it, so I was going to end up doing double jams, which was unusual). Jersey Girls, man, don’t fuck with ‘em. I ended up with MASSIVE bruises everywhere, a split lip, and a cut across my left cheek.

Thankfully, Ben has leather seats. We talked video game/nerd shit on the way home, and by the time he dropped me off and saw me to the door, it was past 1 am. I didn’t expect to see Jason when I got home, because I never saw him Saturday nights; he said he had family night at the Manor on Saturdays. I found it curious that Tim was often home on Saturday nights, but it never seemed important enough to bring up to either one of them.

Once inside my apartment, I stripped down to underwear, leaving the rest on the floor, and went to shower. The hot water felt good on sore muscles, and tender bruises. I put on a robe when I got out, toweled off my hair, and went in the kitchen to get something to eat. I pulled out some Jason leftovers and popped them in the microwave, when I heard tapping on the windows that led to my fire escape. I grabbed a butterfly knife from one of my cabinet drawers, and walked around the kitchen counter that was parallel to the back of the couch.

Standing on my fire escape was none other than Red Hood, himself.

I rubbed a hand across my eyebrows and clenched my jaw. Through the window I yelled “Are you fucking serious?”

“Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Are you dying? Are you actively dying, or in need of immediate medical attention?”

“No, but-“

“Read the sign, asshole.” I pointed at a sign that hung in the window above my “Bat Bucket”. It read ‘A RN lives in this unit. Think twice about B&E – I could be the one thing that stands between you and death the next time you’re at Gotham General”

“But I ASKED.” He sounded offended. “I want to talk to you.”

“You won’t leave until you do, I have that about right?”

“Yep.”

“Gimme a minute to change and grab dinner.”

“Oh, clothes aren’t necessary for this talk-“ he said, then I flipped the butterfly knife open and closed, open and closed, open and closed to emphasize I knew how to use it. “Point taken.”

I stalked to the bedroom and pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a cozy sweater, and slippers.

When I stalked back into the living room, I grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch, and wrapped myself in it. I pulled the Rubbermaid container of leftovers from the microwave and shoved a fork in it, then unlocked the window closest window to the kitchen (the furthest window from where Red was standing) and maneuvered myself through.

“Alright, once is a glitch, second time is coincidence, but this” I gave him a sour look “was deliberate. WHY ARE YOU AT MY FUCKING HOUSE, RED. WHAT DO YOU WANT.” I was shoving stir-fry angrily into my mouth, which was a shame, because it was fucking delicious.

“Jesus, beautiful, why are you so hostile?”

“Because each interaction with any of the Bat Family increases my chance of getting caught in the fucking crossfire exponentially. I work in an ER, asshole, your people make my job a LOT harder.”

“Hey now, I make sure my victims end up in the morgue – not YOUR department.”

I took a bite of stir-fry and considered that. He was not wrong.

“Ok, I give you that. You-“ I said pointing at him with my fork. “You-are the exception. But that doesn’t make it any less dangerous to hang out around you. Please just tell me what you want so you will leave.”

“You ok?” he asked.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS.”

“You didn’t have a bout tonight. I looked for you.”

“It was an away game.”

“That why you look like you got in a bar fight?”

“Why are you suddenly so concerned with my safety and well-being?”

“Your hostility has grown on me.”

“Ok, and?”

“You make out with anyone new tonight?”

“No.”

“What, no one caught your fancy?”

“No.”

“Are you available for making out?”

“What, really? Sure, yeah. Take that mask off, Red.” I said it as a challenge. “You take that mask off, you can come right in.”

“Ooh, you devious woman. You can’t trap me that easy!”

“I’M NOT TRYING TO TRAP YOU AT ALL I WANT YOU TO GO AWAY.”

“No, but I’m serious. Are you available?”

“Didn’t we just go over that? I see you without your mask, I know who you are, I know who you are, you’ll probably just end up killing me, etcetera. I’d like to avoid that, if possible. I’m kind of enjoying life right now.”

“Is that so. Any reason in particular?”

“There’s a person.”

“What, like a boyfriend?”

“Answer unclear, ask again later.”

“Wait, really? You’re not sure if he or she is a boyfriend/girlfriend?”

“That is correct. Dude shows up, cooks, sometimes we make out, he sleeps over, then leaves. Wash/Rinse/Repeat.”

“That sounds like a boyfriend to me.”

“He has never indicated he would like to apply for that particular position. To be honest, I’m not even sure we’re dating. He hasn’t really indicated a preference for monogamy.”

“No?” I swear to GOD I heard amused disbelief in his tone. Like he wanted to _argue_ with me.

“You got something to say?”

“Me? Well. I mean, it sounds like he’s pretty into you.”

“I’m currently getting romance advice from someone who kills people for a living.”

“Only the bad ones. So, you like this guy?”

“I do.”

“Like, a lot, or is there wiggle room…?”

“You trying to move in on his territory? I mean, how would that even _work_? That mask during sex? Not sexy. Can’t kiss you with it on, so that’s right out. I mean, I bet under that get up you’re 100% made out of knives. That’d be too pokey to cuddle with.”

He laughed out loud, and I froze. That was Jason’s laugh. I’d know it anywhere, even with a voice distorter. Red must have noticed something was up, because he asked if I was ok.

“Yeah, I’m just cold. You know what, just come in. I’m freezing.”

“What, really?”

“Yes,” I said, sighing. I slipped back through the window, and Red followed. I wanted to watch him move. I wanted to watch him sit. “I guess I can’t really offer you anything to drink, right?”

“Nope.”

“Couch is there, kitchen’s there, help yourself to whatever someone wearing a mask can ingest, if anything at all. Bathroom’s right there,” I said pointing to everything. I went and sat on the couch, watching him.

“Where do you live?” I asked him.

“Do you really expect me to tell you that?” He took a barstool and straddled it backwards. Jason had never done that here, but his build was awfully similar.

“Not like the address, but like – a house? A bunker? An abandoned missile silo?”

“None of the above.”

“How’d you get to be Red Hood, anyway? You’re part of the Bat Family, right?”

“Tangentially.”

“So how’d you get to be Red Hood?”

“I died and was resurrected.”

“Dude, if you’re not going to take this seriously, then what’s the point?” I rolled my eyes. “Who’s your least favorite member of the BatFam?”

“Nightwing.”

“Why?”

“Guy’s a big bag of dicks.”

“When’s the last time you had sex?”

“Couple months ago. You?”

“Last weekend.”

“The not-boyfriend?”

“No. You remember the chick who kissed me the last time you were squatting on my car?”

“Vaguely.”

“Her.”

“What do you want?”

“Huh?”

“What do you want? Out of life, with this other dude, where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Wow. Ok. Wow. In order. Out of life? Like, dream job? I think I’d like to be a medical director or whatever an NP-C could be at the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation. I’m an LCSW, as well as an NP-C, and specialize in the treatment and counseling of sexual abuse survivors. I know the Thomas Wayne foundation has clinics that specialize in sexual abuse, and I think I could help.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you think you could help?”

“Because I was raped in high school. It takes one to know one, right? You’d be amazed at how much difference it makes when I’m the one doing the rape kit, instead of another female nurse who has not had that experience.”

There was nothing but crickets from the other side of the couch.

“Yeah, that’s usually a conversation killer. So. With the not-boyfriend. Honestly, I’m taking that day by day. I don’t want to get my hopes up, because I’m never sure if I’m going see him. He just shows up.”

“But you like him.”

“I do.”

“Could you see a future with him, you think?”

“I really don’t want to look that far ahead without knowing if I’m just another stamp on his passport, y’know?”

“Ok, but what about daydreams.”

“All right, fine. Well, we’d have fucking gorgeous children, I can tell you that. And they’d be goddamn SMART.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Like, not to toot my own horn, but I’m smart. But not-boyfriend? He’s a goddamn genius. Like scary smart. I don’t think he wants people to know it, but he is.”

“Ok, so you’d have brilliant, beautiful kids with this dude. But, is that all you want? Just….kids?”

“Is there more to want? I don’t understand this question.”

“Like, would you want to get married, or no, or what?”

“I mean, eventually, yes I would like to marry someone, the right someone, but I really can’t say if I want to be not-boyfriend; we haven’t been hanging out that long.”

“Why’dya like him?”

“Because he’s funny, and smart, and clever, and thoughtful. It does not hurt that on a 1-10 scale of hotness, he rates at like a 1,000.”

“He a good kisser?”

“I would be unable to describe how good he is without being pornographic about it.”

“That good, huh?”

“Better.” I stopped, and narrowed my eyes at Red. “Do you not have villains to apprehend? I mean, I know I’m pretty captivating, but like…don’t you have a job to do?”

“I suppose I should get back to work,” he said, sounding disappointed. “One parting thought – you ever think that maybe he thinks _you_ don’t want to be monogamous?”

“Huh. No. I had not. Huh. I figured, the amount of pussy this dude could get just by breathing in someone’s direction, one day he’s gonna wake up and realize I’m just…ordinary.”

“There is absolutely nothing ordinary about you.” It was the way he said it. Jason hadn’t said that exact thing to me, not exactly – but it was Red’s cadence, his tone and the flow of the sentence.

I know who Red Hood is.


	13. I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself to ensure I don’t break you any further

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea gets more than she bargains for at her dojo the day after Red Hood stopped by her apartment. Jason FINALLY realizes he never actually gave Thea his phone number. Thea proves to be a very poor patient indeed. Tim is shocked (SHOCKED I SAY) to learn Thea and Jay still haven't had sex.
> 
> What, you thought I'd let y'all miss out on that? Buckle up.

Sunday, the Sunday after Red Hood’s visit to my apartment. Or, Jason’s visit to my apartment as Red Hood. So this is what I _knew_ : they had the _exact_ same laugh. The laugh of Jason’s that made me feel light inside, because it was *me* who made him laugh. The laugh that made me so, so happy to hear. That laugh. This is what I didn’t _quite_ know, but the coincidence aspect of it was awfully suspicious: Red Hood only showed up on nights I didn’t see Jason. Jason only came to one bout. Red did not show up at that bout. Every other bout I’d had since I’d started seeing Jason I got a visit from Red, including the one this (very early) morning at my own goddamn apartment. There were other, little things that were odd – like Jason’s odd knowledge of Nightwing’s fighting style; and the fact that their body shapes were eerily similar. Like, I would know Jason’s ass _anywhere_. In clothes, out of clothes, anywhere. I got a pretty good look at one spectacular ass of Red Hood last night, and I could swear that was the same ass I grabbed on Thursday when we kissed the first time.

My problem was, I didn’t know what to do about it. Any of it. Like, sitting down for breakfast and just opening with “So, where do you keep your Red Hood suit, anyway?” didn’t really seem like the way to go here. And like, what about the rest of the Bat Fam? If Jason’s Red Hood, does it stand to reason that the REST of his siblings are the rest of them? Like, he has enough siblings to cover it – that’s the thing. I really didn’t want to go down that particular rabbit hole, because I was positive that would land me either in a world of hurt, or dead.

Speaking of a world of hurt. I had an ‘accident’ at my dojo today. I’d gone to my dojo to clear my head, and focus on something else for a while. Then I was invited to participate in a sparring match that got…out of hand isn’t even the word for it. One of the fellow students, a brown belt, apparently was real bent out of shape that I turned down his offer of a date, and decided to use an illegally augmented staff to beat the shit out of me. In full view of my _entire_ class. I ended up choking him out using my upper thighs, which is also illegal (because we’re not a wrestling group) but at that point there was bone sticking out of my right leg, and my right arm was broken. I ended up calling 911 _myself_ because all the other dudes in my class were too flabbergasted to even think about it; then I called my brother (on GCPD SWAT) and my dad (retired GCPD). My dad got there first, and managed to pry the dude away from me, when my brother rolled up in his cruiser with lights going. Then the ambulance arrived. I managed to make it into the ambulance without passing out, but after that, things got hazy. I woke up in a hospital bed, my mom, dad and Ben sitting in the chairs next to me.

“What time is it?” I asked, my voice rough.

“Tuesday, sweetheart,” my mom said, quietly. “You were in surgery for a while.”

“Shit – I was on today, did anyone tell Garrett (my boss).”

“He’s aware,” Garrett himself said from the doorway. “I started the paperwork for medical leave already. I got you covered.”

“How bad?” I asked him, knowing he wouldn’t sugar coat it.

“Your knee was shattered, and we couldn’t save it. You’ve got a couple pins in your lower right leg, several broken ribs, a fractured cheekbone, and a broken arm.”

“No major internal damage?”

“No, thank God he didn’t hit any vital organs.”

“When can I go home?”

“Jesus, T, are you shitting me? If it were up to me, you wouldn’t go home for _weeks_.”

“But Garrett, it isn’t up to you.”

“Do you need someone to stay with you – I’d be happy-“

“That…won’t be necessary, Garrett,” my mom said, gently. “Her father or I, or one of her brothers or Benny will be able to handle it.” What my mom didn’t say, but her tone implied was “Go home to your wife, son.” Garrett’s long standing (loooooong standing) crush on me was a not very well kept secret. Garrett and I had dated once upon a time, when I was still in nursing school, and he was in med school. But that was a long time ago. He also happened to be my eldest brother’s best friend, which made family gatherings suuuuper awkward. 

I managed to get released, against my doctor’s advice, that night. My parents drove me home (my dad and brother had gotten my car back home from the dojo) but I stopped short of having them come up with me. I had a feeling there might be someone waiting for me upstairs, and I didn’t want to have to explain any of that nonsense to either of my parents while taking narcotics. Thankfully, my building has an elevator, which I was extremely grateful for at this moment. 

I managed to maneuver myself out of the elevator without too much trouble, and took a second before I opened my door.

Jason was waiting for me in the doorway, and he looked furious.

“Jesus Christ, Thea, where the hell have you bee-“ Then he stopped, and stared at me. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times before speaking again. “Oh my God, Thea, WHAT HAPPENED?” He rushed over to me, and did the nervous mother hen clucking around all my various casted and non-casted parts without actually touching me, and the more and more he surveyed, the more his whole being radiated ‘fear’.

“Thea, WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME?”

“Jason, I don’t have your phone number. We never exchanged numbers, you just always showed up.” That stopped Jason cold. His eyes widened in shock, and he opened and closed his mouth. He looked like something just occurred to him.

“No wonder you –“ he started, but stopped, then shook his head. “Why didn’t you ask me for it?”

“I didn’t think you wanted to give it to me, to be honest. I thought you wanted to be left alone.” I paused. “Hey, can you help me to the couch? The crutches are digging into my armpits and it hurts.”

“THAT’S what hurts?” He asked, giving me major side eye. He pursed his lips. “Do you think it would hurt if I picked you up?”

I shrugged, as much as one can while on crutches. “Guess we won’t know until we try. A bunch of my ribs are broken, so keep that in mind.”

“Extra careful, got it.” He walked over to me, took the crutches from under my arms, making sure I could lean on him with my left side so I wouldn’t fall over. He picked me up gently, bridal style, and walked us over to the couch. He sat down in the middle, and set me down so my ass was on his right side, and my legs were over him. He did it this way so my casts were all on the outside, and not trapped between my body and his, or stuck behind the couch.

“Can you…slide down?” I asked, hesitantly.

“Sure, which way?”

“Toward the window.”

“You bet.” He very, very gently picked me up again, moving me so I was mostly on the other side of him, and my head was in his lap.

“I couldn’t touch enough of you that way.” I saw him smile a very small smile of what looked like contentment.

“You tell me where it’s safe to touch you, and I won’t let go.”

I sighed. “Most of the damage was to the right side. Ribs are broken on both sides, but everything else was right side only.”

“Ninjago – WHAT HAPPENED? Were you in a car accident?”

“No, this happened at my dojo.”

“Wait, someone at your DOJO did this to you? Like, another human person, at the studio where you both pay to practice your art SAFELY?”

“Yes.”

“This dude still alive? I’m assuming whomever did this to you was a man.”

“Sadly, yes you are correct on both counts.”

“How did this HAPPEN?” It looked to me like Jason couldn’t mentally wrap his mind around physical assault at a supposed neutral place of peace and learning.

“I was sparring with some dude who asked me out a little while ago, who I turned down, and he got bent out of shape about it.”

“Out of curiosity, why’d you turn him down?”

“He seemed to me like kind of an asshole. Nothing he did two days ago disproves this theory.”

“How were you sparring?”

“Bo Staves”

“Thea. Unless this dude had Superman’s strength, there is NO way a bo staff could do any of that.”

“Well, handsome – ding-dong, you’re wrong, however this dude isn’t good enough to use a regular bo staff to do that kind of damage.”

“What do you mean ‘regular’?

“His was too heavy. I think his was reinforced with metal inside. He shattered my staff in half with one blow, and he’s not _that_ good. GCPD got it, well, my brother got it, so it’s in good hands now.”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME.” Jason roared.

I couldn’t help it. My eyes got wide and I shrank back a little.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I yelled; I wasn’t yelling at you.” He took my left (good) hand in his, and kissed me on my forehead.

“Ok, so tell me the total damage report.”

“He snapped my right leg in half, shattered my right knee, snapped my right arm, broke ribs on both sides and fractured my right cheekbone.”

Jason sighed, deeply. “Jesus fucking Christ. Were you shielding with your right side, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah. Once he broke the staff, there was really only so much I could do until I could get him on the floor. Once he was on the floor, I choked him out. I’m pretty sure I broke a few of his bones, I know I got at least one of his wrists. It was very tempting to blind him. Very, very tempting.”

“And NO ONE in your dojo thought to stop him?”

“No, and isn’t that just bananas? Like, I was the ONLY woman there, Jason, everyone else was a man, but even my SENSEI just…froze.”

“You’re not going back.”

“No, I’m not going back.”

“No, that wasn’t a question. You’re not going back, period. I know I said I’m not the boss of you. But that place is obviously dangerous, so you can’t go back. End of story.”

I smiled at his protectiveness. “On that we are agreed. I don’t think that’s really going to be a problem, though. Gabe knows a couple people, and I think licenses are going to get pulled. My mom’s looking for a lawyer.”

“Done.”

“What’s done?”

“You’ve got a lawyer.”

“Are… _you_ a lawyer?”

“No, but we have one on retainer. I’ll make a call.”

I shook my head again, smiling ruefully, because it had slipped my mind once more that he was, indeed, a Wayne.

“I _love_ how it continues to surprise you. Really. Because that means you _forget_ what family I belong to, because it isn’t that important to you.”

“Well, I mean, it’s important to me that you _belong_ to a family, because your family is important to you,” I said, wanting to make sure he understood what I meant.

Jason leaned down, kissed me on the head and told me to hush. I felt him rummaging through a pocket, and he pulled out his phone and held it up to his ear. “Hey, Alfred, it’s Jay. I’m good – how’re you? How’re the girls? And the Demon? Hey, can you give me the number of the lawyer Bruce uses for family stuff? No, it’s not for me, I promise. It’s for a…friend. Text it to me? Cool. Thank you, Alfred. I’ll stop by this week. I promise. Bye.”

He looked down at me in his lap. “I’ll call tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok? Thank you, Jason. You really don’t have to do this-“

“Thea, I want to. If I can use my ‘rich adopted white kid’ status for anything good, please let it be this.”

I smiled. “Ok, Jason. Can you stay tonight?”

“What, and leave you alone to fend for yourself? Of course I’m staying, nutjob. Are you hungry? Have you eaten?”

I pouted. “Ugggh, food. I don’t feel like eating. Blergh.”

“Gotta eat, Thea. Seriously. Want me to make you something?”

“Yes, but I _do not_ want you to move. At all.”

“Hmm. A conundrum, for sure.”

“Call Tim.” I said, chuckling. Jason laughed out loud, but pulled his phone back out and called his brother. He put it on speaker.

“Hey Jay, what’s up?”

“You home, or around? You’re on speaker, by the way. I’m at Thea’s.”

“Hey, she get home safe?”

“Yes, and no,” I said.

“Uh,” Tim said.

“Thea was in an accident. Like, the entire right side of her body is broken kind of accident.”

“Oh shit! What do you need?”

“I don’t want Jason to get up, we’re on the couch. Would you be willing to bring food over? Jason says I need to eat.”

“You need to eat, Thea. You’re a goddamn nurse!” I could hear him rolling his eyes. “What do you guys want?”

“Comfort food, Tim. Calories.” Jason said.

“Understood. I’ll run out and get something and be over in a jiffy.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.” Jason said, hanging up.

Ten minutes later, Tim walked in with a couple food bags, which he put on the coffee table.

“Hooooly shit, you were not kidding. What the hell HAPPENED, Thea?” he asked, sounding horrified.

“A dude at my dojo beat the shit out of me.”

“Wait, what?”

“Some guy Thea’d turned down for a date took it badly and they sparred on Sunday, and Thea said he used an augmented bo staff, and beat the shit out of her. I think the only things that didn’t get broken on her right hand side are her hand and her foot. And shoulder.”

“Jesus Christ. This dude still alive?” Tim asked me.

“Unfortunately. I didn’t have enough torque to cut off his airflow enough because I was using my leg that was broken as the fulcrum. I managed to get him to pass out. That’s all.”

“You sound disappointed.”

“If it were up to me, I’d flay him alive then light him on fire. But as my dad and brother reminded me, we have this thing called the ‘justice system’.”

“Ok, food. What’ve we got?” Jason asked.

“I brought mac and cheese, fried chicken and green beans. I’ll go get plates and forks.”

“Thank you, Tim.” I said. “While you’re up, I think I dropped my goodie bag of meds on the counter, could you please bring it over?”

“You due for something?” Jason asked, holding his hand over his head for Tim to hand him the bag.

“Garrett threw a bunch of shit in there, I’m not all sure what it is. He didn’t actually prescribe half of it.”

“Wait. Were you released without his authorization? Was he the overseeing physician?”

“He was, and he released me against his orders.”

“How many more days should you have stayed in the hospital, Thea?” Jason asked, concerned.

“Meh. What can the hospital give me that I can’t just get here?”

“ACTUAL MEDICAL CARE YOU ABSOLUTE NUTJOB.” Jason said, glaring at me.

“Dude, I’m a nurse.”

“You have no medical equipment here, Thea! I have half a mind to just take you back to the hospital!”

“Don’t you DARE.” I told him, seriously. “I want to be HERE. I will sleep better HERE. You’re HERE. I’ll be fine.”

The look Jason gave me could not have said more clearly “I highly doubt that”, but he kept his mouth shut. He looked in the bag, and his eyes got real big.

“Maaaan, Garrett hooked you up with some serious stuff. You’ve got antibiotics in here, a nausea med, a bunch of fucking painkillers, some I think that shouldn’t have actually left the hospital.”

“Antibiotic and a not-illegal painkiller for the moment. I’ll take the illegal shit before I go to sleep tonight.”

Jason leaned his head back over the back of the couch. “Hey Tim, can you grab us three bottles of water from the fridge, please?”

“You bet.”

Jason handed me two pills, and a water bottle. When Tim came to sit, Jason made sure to feed me first; he actually fed me. He cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces, did small forkfuls of mac and cheese at a time, and was careful with the veggies.

“Scale of 1-10, 10 being “Jason take me back to the hospital” – how’s your pain?”

“Higher than that scale goes – but you are _not_ allowed to take me back to the hospital.” 

I saw Jason give Tim a meaningful look, and Tim nodded. I would have said something about it, but I was too uncomfortable to ask.

“I need to pee – Jason, can you get me my crutches?”

“Would you rather I carried you?”

“Maaaybe? It would be awkward either way around, you’re going to end up seeing me naked eventually, it may as well be sooner rather than later.”

“Wait, you two haven’t-“

“No.” Jason and I said in unison.

“Tim, I may as well say my goodnights now, I don’t think I’m long for the plane of consciousness at this point.”

Tim shook his head, looking sadly sympathetic. “Oh, Thea. I’ll come check on you tomorrow if Jason has to leave for anything, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Sweet dreams, Thea.”

“Thanks, Tim.”

Then Jason picked me up again, and we went to the bathroom in my bedroom.

“How can I help?” he asked, genuinely.

“I think I’d rather sleep naked tonight, getting clothes on and off over these casts is going to be a nightmare.”

“Want me to sleep on the couch?”

“No, no I do not. But if you’d rather, I understand.”

“No, no I do not. I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself to ensure I don’t break you any further,” he said and laughed. “Ok. So. Getting you naked. Man, I always thought saying something like that to you would be under far sexier circumstances.”

“Yeah.”

We managed to get all my clothes off without much hassle or pain, on my part. Jason said nothing as he helped me pee, without falling over (I don’t have grip bars in my bathroom). He was so sweet about everything. I cleaned up quickly as best I could under the circumstances, and he carried me to the bed, resting my crutches next to the bed so they’d be easy to access if I needed them. I asked for a glass of water, one of the pre-filled syringes with the narcotics that technically should not have left the hospital, my phone, and the bottle of Oxycodone. While he went to fetch those things, I gently maneuvered myself into a comfortable sleeping position.

Jason came back, placing my phone, the water, and the bottle of pills on my nightstand. He asked if I wanted him to do the injection, but I said no. He uncapped it, handed it to me, and with my left hand jabbed it into my hip. It would have been more effective in a saline drip in an IV, but, what’s done is done.

“I’ll be in in a little bit, I want to catch up with Tim some. Holler if you need me, ok? And wake me up tonight if you need to use the bathroom, or need anything. Ok? Thea? Do you promise you will, instead of trying to do it yourself?”

“I promise,” I said, starting to fade out.

Jason helped lean me back, and kissed me gently on my lips, murmuring “Sleep well, my beautiful one.”


	14. So, Benevolent overlord, what’d you want to talk about?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More cast-time antics for our favorite duo! THINGS are discussed! Happiness is shared!
> 
> ...For now. *Does the finger pyramid of evil*

I woke up around 2 am and had to pee. Jason was draped across my left side, and looked so peaceful I really hated to wake him for something this stupid. I reached across to grab my crutches, and started getting up when one strong arm gripped my stomach firmly but without causing pain.

“You weren’t trying to do something on your own like you _promised me_ you wouldn’t do, were you?” an irately amused voice asked me in the dark.

“You looked so peaceful!”

“I will peacefully help you to the bathroom, nutjob. My God, woman, but you are stubborn.” Jason crawled around me and helped me stand, and whisked me up with ONE ARM to shuttle me to the bathroom. Once I’d finished, and washed hands, he picked me up again, and gently placed me back into bed. “No more ‘me do’s’ ok? I’m serious, Thea. I don’t want you to get hurt doing something as mundane as having to pee.”

“I hear and I obey, oh benevolent overlord,” I said, making Jason smile. His smile was so bright I could see it in the dark.

“Ya know, that’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Being my benevolent overlord?”

“Something like that. Is this a conversation for 2 am? How awake are you?”

“I’m awake. You?”

“I’m awake.” He said. I waited. And waited. Even in the pitch black of my bedroom, I could tell he was nervous. “So.”

“So. Benevolent overlord, what’d you want to talk about?”

“Well. About that.”

“Jason, are you _nervous_?”

“I…may….be. I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about…dating.”

“Ok….”

“Because that’s what we are. We’re dating.”

“Are we?” I asked seriously.

“I always thought so, did you not?” He said, sounding extremely unsure.

“I…didn’t. I just kinda figured I was a stop on your rounds.”

“Thea, _why_?” He sounded so hurt when I said it. “Why would you think that? You are _important_ to me!”

“Jason, I still don’t have your phone number. I didn’t have any way of contacting you, and I truly did think that was on purpose. And…you’d just…show up. When you wanted to. In my experience, that’s a hallmark of a ‘booty call’.”

“Well, aside from the distinct lack of ‘booty’, you are so much more than a booty call to me.”

“To me, too.”

“Am I?” he asked seriously. “After Celia, I…wasn’t really sure.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Yeah. That was bad timing all the way around, for everyone.”

“Have you…seen her since?” Asking that sounded like it was painful for him.

“I’ve seen her at work, and at bouts, but not in a romantic way. No more kissing, or anything else.” I paused. “Jason, I don’t want to be intimate with anyone else but you.”

I heard him sigh, and he sounded greatly relieved. “Good. I don’t want you to be intimate with anyone else but me, and I don’t want to be with anyone else, either.” He paused. “So, I guess that means, I’m your…boyfriend?”

“I would like that very much.”

“Me, too.” Jason had snuggled up to my left side again, but before settling down, asked if I needed a refill of anything. I asked for one of the industrial strength illegal narcotics in the living room, which Jason was more than happy to fetch. Jason said he’d administer it this time, and had to turn the light on to make sure he didn’t stab me anywhere unfortunate. He took my left arm, and did all the things I would have done to find a good vein, then injected the pain meds.

“You’re…awfully good at that.”

“I’ve had some practice over the years.”

That made me raise my eyebrows, but I didn’t push it. It was 2 am after all. Jason snuggled back down, wrapped as gently around my left side as he could without hurting me. We usually spooned, and I was the bigger spoon most of the time, but with the casts, everything was harder. I’m a side sleeper, and this was not ideal. Having Jason there definitely made me more comfortable, which was evident in the rapid slowing of my heart rate, and my eyelids not wanting to stay open. I looked over at him.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey, yourself,” he said, watching me.

“I really like you.”

“I really like you, too, Thea.”

“Thank you for staying with me, even though I’m a bad patient.”

“You being a bad patient’s part of the fun – means I get to boss you around a little,” He kissed me gently on the lips. “Go to sleep, tiny terror.”

“Sweet dreams, beautiful one.”


	15. I want to throw up my hands in exasperation but then I’d fall over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of the recent *commotion* finally gets to Thea, and she and her PTSD have a moment, which they share with Klonopin and Jason.
> 
> Then Garrett shows up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **T/W: PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A DESCRIPTION OF RAPE IN THIS SCENE**
> 
> Please note - I do actually have PTSD from being sexually assaulted, I am not mocking/making fun of/attempting to insult anyone who has been assaulted or harassed. Thea's reaction to major events/issues stems from my own personal experience.

The next morning, I woke up to Jason, propped up on an elbow, watching me sleep.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” his face was lit up with a smile. “Did you know you snore a little when you lie on your back? It’s adorable.”

I tried to cover my face with my hands, completely forgetting – everything – and promptly hit myself in the face with my right cast.

Jason couldn’t help it, he laughed out loud while he made sure I didn’t have any permanent damage. “Oh my GOD, Thea, you are SUCH a dork.” The smile on his face and the sound of his laugh made it worth it, though. He sighed as I sat up, slowly. “God, you are just one huge bruise. This is killing me. What’s your pain level?”

“Same as last night.” I reached over and pulled an oxycodone out of the bottle, taking it with the water on my nightstand.

“Shall I help you to the bathroom?”

“Can you just supervise as I use my crutches? I really have to learn how to do this by myself.”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re not always going to be here,” I said, as if it were just a known fact.

“Says who?”

“Uh, says you? I mean, you often leave my apartment, I assume you have things to do and places to go,” I said, giving him a very skeptical look.

“Fine, I’ll supervise. I have to say, waking up to you naked is a real treat.”

“Oh, I bet,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What could be sexier than one full side in a cast and massive bruising?”

“Thea.” Jason was almost pursing his lips at me. This was a ‘no thank you’ look if I’d ever seen one.

“I’m sorry. I told you I’m a terrible patient.” I’d managed to get situated with my crutches by my bed easier than I thought it would be, and slowly made my way to the bathroom. Being really careful, I was able to do it by myself, but it took 5 times as long.

“I’ll make you a deal. During daylight hours, if you’re up for it, you do this by yourself. But at night – and I’m serious, Thea – at night, I help.”

“Ok.” I said. I hated feeling helpless. HATED.IT. But the rational, NP part of me realized he was being logical, because the chances of me slipping and hurting myself was exponentially higher at night, especially on pain medication.

Coming back out to my room, I sighed. “WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT CLOTHES. EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE. I want to throw up my hands in exasperation but then I’d fall over. EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE, JASON.”

“Wear mine.” Jason said, simply. “Pants shouldn’t be a problem – they should be big enough they go over the casts easily. We can cut the legs if they’re too long. Shirts, too. I cannot solve the bra/underwear issue, though.”

“Meh, no bra shouldn’t be a problem. Or, you could help me tape!! That could be fun. I may need to look into panties that tie at the sides.”

Jason started rooting around ‘his’ drawer, and found a pair of sweats and a t-shirt without any issue. (As soon as Jason had started sleeping over, he kept importing his own clothes from his brother's apartment downstairs. After a couple days, it got to the point that just throwing them on the chair in the corner of my room wasn't going to cut it anymore, so I cleared him out a drawer. He was _ridiculously_ pleased with that gesture. He didn't stop smiling for an hour.) I sat down on the bed and wiggled into the pants, which actually did fit over the cast pretty well. Turns out my waist size is close to his hip size, so the pants didn’t fit too badly at the waist. We did need to cut the legs off, because he’s at least 6 inches taller than me. So, pants were sorted. I tried putting on a tank top of mine, and that worked out pretty well, too.

“YAY CLOTHES!” I called.

“Boo, clothes,” Jason said, softly, next to me. He kissed the side of my head and picked me up and carried me into the kitchen. He went back to grab the crutches, putting them next to me on a barstool. “Hungry?”

“Are you still insisting I eat?” I asked, sourly.

“Thea. C’mon. You know as well as I do that if you don’t eat, you won’t get better. You know that.”

I rolled my eyes and exhaled in exasperation.

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

“No, I’m not ok!” I said, starting to cry. God, I can’t stand crying. HATE crying. But here we were. “I have meds in my medicine cabinet – the Klonopin, can you get me one of the tabs? They’re tear off; they go under the tongue.”

Without comment, Jason hustled to the bathroom, got me a Klonopin, and brought it back to me, already opened. I popped it in my mouth. I saw him grab a Kind bar from the cabinet, then he came over, scooped me up, and took me to the couch.

“Baby, what’s going on?” He asked, seriously. We were both sitting up, and he was sitting on my left, so he could hold my hand.

“I hate this. I hate feeling helpless. Ben said he told you I have PTSD.”

“Yes.”

“When I was 16, my junior year of High School, I was raped in the boy’s bathroom of Gotham Academy, by a member of the football team, because he knew I slept with chicks, and wanted to ‘make sure’ I knew what it felt like to have sex with a dude.”

“Jesus Christ, Thea, I am so sorry. So, I assume that’s the dude you almost killed?”

“Yeah.”

“You regret it? Trying to kill him?”

“FUCK no. I’m sorry I didn’t get to finish the job. My dad didn’t raise a quitter. I did give that fucker permanent brain damage, though.”

Jason looked at me the way someone would look at a tiger in a library. “Ben did happen to mention you were…pretty hardcore.”

“Yeah. Their next football game, I went into their locker room right before the game and told them all if any of them tried touching anyone in the school without consent, I’d find them, and Benny wouldn’t be there to stop me next time.”

“NOOOO shit. How’d that go over?”

“One dude tried being all macho and said something about ‘liking girls that were feisty’ and I told him his buddy did too, and he should ask him how that worked out – but wait, he couldn’t, because I’d put him in a coma and he might never wake up. I told them not to fuck with me. No one in the school had problems with harassment after that.”

“Did you get in trouble?”

“I got suspended. For a day.”

“For fighting back?!” Jason asked, horrified.

“No, for threatening the football team. That apparently was ‘bad sportsmanship’. I countered the principal that raping women was worse sportsmanship, and he knocked the suspension down to a day, because he couldn’t argue with that.”

“Thank you for telling me that. I’m sorry your junior year experience was pretty shitty.”

“It happened. Nothing can be done about it now, but therapy. However, getting back to the dojo bullshit. Jason, there was a ROOM FULL OF MEN WHO DID NOTHING. A FULL ROOM OF MEN just sat and watched as I got beaten almost to death. What is _wrong_ with people? I have been going to that dojo for over five years! I’ve known my sensei for longer than that! He did _nothing_.” I was crying again. “We have children’s classes at that place! What if this dude had gotten pissed off at some other woman who wasn’t a blackbelt? What if it were one of our teenage students? I trusted my sensei! Those fuckers were all pussies who were afraid to get beaten by that asshole, so they let me take it. And like, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Oh, no, there is. We’re on it, Thea, I’ve got that covered, I promise.”

“But like, I can’t _guarantee_ my sensei feels guilty, or remorseful, you know? That coward should be _ashamed_ of himself.” I swiped at my eyes. “And, like, it’s not even Gotham, you know? Like, Two-Face gives no shits about the sexes of the people he hurts. Neither does Joker, or Scarecrow. They’re equal opportunity atrocities. But I have friends all over, and this shit happens to women _all the fucking time_. All the time. Why do men hate women so much, Jason?”

“I wish I had a good answer for you, Thea. I really do.” Jason handed me the Kind bar. “Eat it.”

“Yes, benevolent overlord.”

“I think the word you’re searching for is ‘boyfriend’, thank you very much.” When Jason said the word ‘boyfriend’ he smiled his little satisfied smile that made me _so_ happy to see.

“Yes, boyfriend,” I said smiling widely.

Just then there was an unexpected knock on my door. Jason cast a glance at me, asking if I was expecting someone. I shook my head and shrugged. Jason got up and opened the door. I couldn’t see who it was, because Jason was blocking my view (and was a view he was).

“Who’re you?” It was a voice I recognized. It was Garrett.

“Hi there, I’m Thea’s boyfriend Jason, and you are?” I could tell Jason was trying to be as polite as possible while not drop kicking Garrett in the teeth.

“I’m Thea’s…boss. Garrett.”

“Ah yes. Garrett. How may I help you?” Jason asked, keeping Garrett at bay and out of the apartment by his size alone.

“I wanted to – is Thea home? Is she not here? – I wanted to check in on her, make sure she was doing ok.”

“Thea’s resting.”

“Jason, it’s ok. He can come in.” I called from behind him. Jason immediately stood to the side, allowing Garrett to enter. Garrett hurried to where I was on the couch.

“Is he new? He’s certainly…protective,” Garrett said.

“I am protective, thank you, my girlfriend just got the shit kicked out of her at her dojo and I wasn’t able to help her.”

“I notice you weren’t at the hospital – that’s curious.”

“There’s a visitor limit, Garrett – she already had her parents and Ben. I’m here, now.” Jason said, patiently.

“Garrett.” I said, focusing his attention on me, so he’d stop trying to have a pissing contest with Jason. “What did you want to check?”

“How’s your pain?”

“It fucking hurts.”

“If you were in the hospital-“

“It would still fucking hurt, and I wouldn’t be at home, in my boyfriends pajamas, with my boyfriend.”

I saw Jason behind Garrett press his lips together to keep from laughing, but give me a thumbs up.

“How’d you sleep last night?”

“Better than I expected.”

“How’re you getting around – ok?”

I laughed. “Yeah, the crutches are clumsy, but it is what it is. Jason’s been carrying me everywhere, so that’s much faster,” I said with a smile. Garrett registered mild surprise when I mentioned Jason carrying me.

“You’ll need to come back to the hospital in about two weeks for a checkup, and when the casts are off –“

“Garrett, you really didn’t need to come here to repeat my discharge instructions to me. I have the printed ones you gave me last night. I’ll manage.”

“I-I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You were in surgery for over 12 hours, Thea. You’re really lucky there isn’t going to be permanent nerve damage.” Garrett was being serious now. And I knew he was right. I _was_ lucky.

“I know, Garrett, and we appreciate you stopping by. Thank you. Please tell Julia I say hello.”

“I won’t, but I appreciate the thought. Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks for stopping by, Garrett.”

At the door, Jason said “Good to meet you, man.” Garrett only nodded. Once Jason shut the door, he came back over to the couch and goggled at me. “AM I NEW?”

I couldn’t help it, I started laughing. Once I started, Jason started. I loved hearing that laugh, more than anything.

“Lord, I see what you mean about that crush.” Jason was making the “eek” face.

“Jason, I’m telling you, he really IS a good guy. It’s just SOOOO awkward. I’ve known him my _entire_ life. He’s a good doctor, and a good man. But OY.”

“Am I new,” Jason repeated, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.


	16. Yeah, but mine’s vintage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea rides in Jason's car for the very first time! I WONDER WHERE THEY COULD BE GOING.
> 
> DON'T YOU WONDER WHERE THEY'RE GOING?
> 
> You should.

Late that afternoon, after Garrett dropped by, Jason suggested we go for a drive. I looked at him to see if he was joking. He was not joking.

I looked at him with severe skepticism. “Jason, I’m not really the best companion for hiking right now,” I said, laughing.

“No, it’s nothing like that. C’mon. It’ll be fun. I want to bring your meds with us, though, in case we’re out later than I think we will be.”

“Um. Ok. I guess, sure,” I said, the opposite of sure. Leaving my house was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.

I went to pee before we leave, and Jason had to help me put on my shoe(s). Shoe. Jason had to help me put on my shoe. God, I hated this. I HATE being helpless, and having to rely on people for everything. People need help all the time, I get that, I need help sometimes too, but having to have someone help you do EVERY.FUCKING.THING. was the absolute worst to me.

Jason and I took the elevator, so I’d have my crutches with us, and I waited on the sidewalk while he went to grab his car so I wouldn’t have to walk far to get in. I don’t know what I expected Jason to drive, but a chromatic blue ’67 Chevy Impala was not it.

“I think I need help reacting to something,” I said when he came to fetch me.

“What? My car? Not what you expected?” He asked, smiling.

“I…don’t know what I expected. I never really thought about you driving a car, honestly.”

“How did you think I got here, Tiny Terror?”

“…Magic.” Jason just raised one of his eyebrows at me, and shook his head.

“May I, my lady?” He asked, right before he picked me up. He’d already put my crutches in the trunk. He gently put me in the front seat and I sat confused for a minute before realizing this car was built before shoulder/lap seatbelts were a thing. It was just a lapbelt.

“Your car is even older than mine, but you give me shit about how old my car is!” I cried when he got behind the steering wheel.

“Yeah, but mine’s _vintage_ ,” he said, sounding absurdly proud of it.

“This is a _really_ nice car,” I agreed. “You’ve – I assume it’s you – done great maintenance on it.”

Jason gave me skeptical side-eye. “You know cars?”

“A little. My dad and Mike worked on our cars together – that was their ‘thing’. But I’ve been listening to Car Talk on NPR since I was a baby. I mean, I know enough to know what a lovingly maintained car looks like, Jase.”

“Fair.”

“Where are we gooooiiiinnnng?” I asked, going out of my mind with curiosity. He was taking us out of the city, so I wasn’t sure where we could be going. There wasn’t much out this way, other than cities farther away.

“You’ll find out soon – we’re not far.”

There wasn’t much this way. Except for Wayne Manor.


	17. I think this is what walking into Jurassic Park would feel like the first time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason brings Thea to meet his WHOLE family...but doesn't tell her about it beforehand.
> 
> Thea is introduced to the entire BatFam (Minus Dick) while doped up, on crutches, and cranky.

It wasn’t too long until our destination loomed into view.

I just…WHAT? WAYNE FUCKING MANOR? TODAY? TODAY? Presumably some of his family is there, and – MEETING FAMILY, WHAT? I mean, Tim doesn’t count because I’d met him before I met Jason. We’d only been dating for about a month. This seems – early- to me.

“Jason, are you taking me where I think you’re taking me?”

He tried coy. “I dunno, where do you think I’m taking you?”

“Jason, stop. For real. Stop the car. Turn around. Take me home.”

“Whoa, whoa, Thea, what? What’s the big deal?”

“Jason, are you taking me to meet your family?”

“Yeah, I want them to meet you.”

“But you didn’t talk to me about it first.” I sighed.

“But it’s just my family,”

“’Just your family’ Jason! This isn’t like going home to meet my mom and dad – my dad’s not fucking famous!”

“I’ve met your friends, Thea, I don’t understand why you’re upset.” Jason wasn’t trying to gaslight me, I knew that at least. He really didn’t understand.

“Jason, to me, family is a bigger step. That I wish you would have talked to me about, before bringing me here.”

“But, Thea, we’re boyfriend/girlfriend now.”

“That literally started like 12 hours ago. I didn’t know we were dating before today! Jason, now is really not the best time for this! I can’t walk on my own! I haven’t showered in like 4-5 days at this point! I’m not wearing _any_ underwear!”

“Thea, no one in my family is going to take your clothes off but me. I promise.”

“BIGGER PICTURE, JASON. I just got out of the hospital 24 hours ago. I am taking an INSANE amount of narcotics. Jason. Do I have to?”

“We’re already here, T. Please?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fine.” I was almost in tears. THIS IS NOT HOW FIRST FAMILY MEETINGS SHOULD GO, FOR THE RECORD.

Jason hopped out of the car, got my crutches from the trunk and came and opened my door for me, helping me out.

Wayne Manor was huge. I mean, right, like that’s implied, I know. I’ve never been here before, I’ve only seen pictures, so this is just…surreal. I think this is what walking into Jurassic Park would feel like the first time. Jason helped me navigate the stairs (Marble? Stone? The bones of Bruce Wayne’s enemies?) up to the front door and he just…walked in. I mean, I know it’s his house, but…he just walked in. Like you do. At Wayne Manor.

The foyer was beautiful, and very echoey for me and my crutches. I’m pretty sure the floor was marble, and there was a large round table with a vase filled to the brim with fresh flowers. I felt like I was walking into the world’s fanciest hotel. The drugs in my system made me want to call “Yo-Do-Lay-He-Hoo!” at the top of my lungs, but then I remembered exactly where I was and I refrained. Someday. Maybe.

From the foyer, we walked into what I can only describe as a parlour. Parquet flooring, furniture that was made for guests you didn’t want overstaying their welcome, large antique curio cabinets and portraits – I’m assuming of Martha and Thomas Wayne.

Also, Jason’s ENTIRE FUCKING FAMILY OH MY GOOD LORD AND BUTTER. EVEN TIM.

I locked eyes with Tim and mouthed “traitor”, which only made him smile.

“Hey, everyone, this is Thea, my girlfriend. She wanted you all to know that she’s taking an insane amount of narcotics, and is only wearing one shoe.”

I shot daggers at Jason with my eyes. “Dead. You are dead to me now, boyfriend.” I hissed.

“Todd, I assume you did not do this to her, correct?” A young voice spoke up from across the room. A small kid, I’d age him between 10-13, stepped from behind a sofa, and walked towards me. He had his arms behind his back, and when he was 2 feet away from me, pulled an honest to god katana out from behind his back and lunged at me, stopping a hair away from one of my eyelashes. I didn’t flinch. I grew up in Gotham, and worked in our ER. I see this shit everyday.

Switching my left crutch to lean on my right side, I held out my hand.

“Hi, I’m Thea. You must be Damian.” He took my hand and shook, looking me up and down appraisingly.

“JESUS DAMIAN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK” Jason yelled, looking like he wanted to throttle his little brother.

“Language, Master Jason,” a British voice called from the back of the room.

I replaced the left crutch, and held my purse out to Jason. “Can you put that somewhere, kidnapper?” I heard Jason snort when I called him that.

Tim came up to me next. “Hi, I’m Tim,” he said, a big grin on his face.

“I hate you so much right now,” I told him, smiling wide. “You better watch it, sir, or the entertainment one floor above you is going to get LOUDER.” Tim laughed out loud.

Jason steered me closer to one of the couches, where two girls were hanging out.

“Thea, this is Cassie” he said pointing to a beautiful Asian young woman “And this is Steph” he motioned to a gorgeous blonde teenager.

“Hi ladies, had I known we were coming to see you, I would have worn my fancier pajamas.”

“Wait, Jay didn’t tell you you were _coming here_?” Steph asked, shooting a dirty look at her brother.

“No. No he did not. Hence why I am wearing pajamas in your living room. My feelings of overwhelming embarrassment are only tempered somewhat by the aforementioned insane amount of narcotics I’m currently on.”

“Jason, that’s not nice,” Cassie told him, giving him ‘a look’.

An older gentleman walked over to us, nodding.

“Mistress Thea, I’m Alfred. I’m delighted to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Alfred, it is my pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. About all of you. I apologize for not shaking hands – managing all this-“ I nodded to my right side “is taking a lot of getting used to.”

“What happened to you?” Damian spoke up from behind us. “Jason, your number isn’t in her phone. Why doesn’t she have your number?”

“Uh, that’s…a whole thing.” Jason said simply.

“Well, I’m putting you in here as ‘Damian’s dickhead brother’ so she’ll know who you are.”

“Kid, I like your style.” I told him, smiling.

“Why do you take Klonopin?” he asked. This kid. Jason told me Damian HATED people. That was not the vibe I was getting from my new buddy.

“I have PTSD, and an anxiety disorder.”

“What from?”

“I was sexually assaulted when I was a teenager.”

“Damian, STOP.” Jason told him.

“What? I want to get to know her better.”

“So come talk to her, nutjob!”

“Guys. I’m standing right here.”

“A purse will tell you a lot about the woman who carries it.”

“What does my purse tell you, Damian?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“You’re not fussy. You’re an RN, and an LCSW – I saw your licenses. How’d you do that? Your Todd’s age, right?”

“I didn’t sleep for six years.”

“You couldn’t have gotten them both that quickly.”

“I went to Gotham Academy, just like you. I took college courses my junior and senior years.”

“You’re motivated.”

“What else?”

“You play Roller Derby. Really? Roller Derby?”

“No kidding.”

“What’s that like?”

“Awesome and painful. But more awesome.”

“And you belong to a dojo-“

“Ok, Damian, you’re done with Thea’s purse.” Jason said, walking over and taking it from him.

“Todd, what-why?”

“Damian, that’s where I got hurt, all these casts. From my dojo.”

“Wait, what now?” Cassie asked from behind me. “Your DOJO? You’re kidding.”

“She isn’t. Some dude had a grudge, used a modified bo staff, and beat the ever loving shit out of her on Sunday.”

“Wait a minute.” Damian said, walking over to me. He circled me, like you would a curious specimen. “This happened Sunday.”

“Yes.”

“Today’s Wednesday.”

“Congratulations!” I said. Oxycodone, man, it’ll make you say things you wouldn’t normally.

“Why are you not still in the hospital?”

“Because she’s a stubborn asshole,” Jason said, glaring at me. Damian’s eyes narrowed at his brother, about to say something sharp, I was sure of it, but I interrupted.

“He’s not wrong. I checked myself out on Tuesday. Against my doctor’s orders.”

“Am I NEW.” Jason repeated.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to go home. Because my bed, and my stuffed animal, and Jason were there. Because I am a TERRIBLE patient.”

“Truth,” Jason said from beside me.

“You sleep with a stuffed animal?”

“I sure do! His name is BunBun. He’s a bunny. My dad got him for me when I was little.”

“You’re not…ashamed of it?”

“No, why would I be? Anyone that says grownups can’t sleep with stuffies is a jerk and not worth knowing.”

Damian looked right at me, but addressed Jason. “I like her. She can stay.”

“Uhoh,” a new, deep voice said from behind me, sounding amused. I turned.

Oh God. It was Bruce Wayne.


	18. Anything’s a weapon, Jason, if you try hard enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea gets HANGRY and isn't taking any of your shit, Jason Peter Todd-Wayne.

Bruce Wayne himself was walking down the staircase to our left in the parlour, coming toward the group of us gathered there. He was handsome, but not like ‘movie-star’ handsome. His hair was black, with salt and pepper on the sides. Even with the suit that was probably more expensive than everything I own I could tell he was BUILT. He didn’t quite have the dorito measurements my dearly-nearly-dead-to-me-beloved had, but like, you could tell. I’m sure he looked _fiiiinnnee_ in a swimsuit. If that were something one wanted to observe.

He was walking directly toward me. I may have stopped breathing, but I don’t remember.

“Hi Thea, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Bruce.” He said, extending his hand to me. I took it and shook, too stunned to say anything. I caught myself, realizing I was being rude.

“Hello, Mr. Wayne, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Please excuse me, it’s been a long couple of days and my meds are catching up with me.”

“Please call me Bruce.”

“I will not, but thank you for the invitation.”

“I see you’ve had a…rough time of it. Jason, did I overhear this happened at her dojo?”

“It did.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow at Jason, and Jason simply said “It’s being taken care of.”

“Thea, it’s such a pleasure to have you here. Jason so rarely ever brings anyone to meet us, this is quite a nice surprise. Please make yourself at home, Jason had mentioned you might be staying with us for a while.”

My head swiveled to Jason, my eyes narrowing. “Jason what now?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Thea – I was going to mention it, we just hadn’t gotten through introductions yet.”

“Damian, are you still by my purse?” I asked him, over my shoulder.

“Yes.”

“Can you please bring me one Klonopin?”

“Yes.” He rummaged in my purse and brought me one of the foil tear packs. He opened it, took it out, and put it in my left palm. I popped it in my mouth.

“Thank you, Damian.”

“You’re welcome, Thea.”

“Jason, can we go talk somewhere private? Like, say, my apartment?” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Damian chuckle.

“No, it’s cool – Steph and I will go do…something else,” Cassie said from next to me, pulling Steph with her. “C’mon, Dami.”

“Oh, no, I’m staying.” Damian said, shaking his head no.

“Damian!” Cassie hissed.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s fine. You’re all welcome to stay, this is your house after all. I apologize in advance for any yelling or foul language on my part.” I turned to Jason. “What.Is.Going.On.” I asked, trying to make sure to use my inside voice.

“Do you promise me you’re not going to try to kill me.”

“Not in front of your family,” I said, leaving the last half of that sentence unspoken.

“Jason,” Cassie spoke up from behind us. “Why did you ask that seriously? That wasn’t a joke. You weren’t joking.”

“I have a temper.”

“Thea is…really hardcore.” Jason was just now starting to look like he *might* have made a mistake. “I think it would be better for you to recuperate here.”

“A house that isn’t mine, full of people I don’t know.”

“We have facilities here more suited to your current injuries.” Jason said, simply.

“Thea, he’s telling the truth. It’s not a bad idea.” Tim said.

My head snapped to look at Tim. “When I want your opinion, I will ask you for it.” Tim’s face was a mask of ‘Oh, Shit’.

“Oooh, Jason, she’s feisty!” Steph her eyebrows reaching for the sky. Jason winced.

“Hon, the last person who called me feisty ended up in a coma. Be very careful.”

“Maaaaayybe we should move to a different room,” Jason said, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

“Or, just maybe, you should have mentioned ALL OF THIS to me before bundling me off for a ‘drive’. For future reference, should one occur, this is one of those occasions that couples usually discuss beforehand.”

Jason was still wincing. “I’m really sorry, Thea. I didn’t think-“

I cut him off quickly “The crux of the problem, right there,”

“-I didn’t think bringing you here to meet everyone would be a big deal, or asking you to stay.”

“Jason – you still _haven’t asked_.”

“Thea, I would like it very much if you stayed here, with me, for at least a couple days. I hope for longer, but would you be willing to try a couple of days?”

“Tonight. I’ll try tonight. We will discuss more tomorrow.”

“At least I know you don’t have any weapons on you,” he said, laughing nervously.

“Anything’s a weapon, Jason, if you try hard enough.” I said sharply.

“Oh, I LIKE her.” Damian said, from where he was standing. “Thea, pardon my interruption, but may *I* call you Feisty?”

I looked over and considered him. I was positive he didn’t want to use it in a condescending way. “You may.”

“Thea – what have you eaten today?” Jason asked, seriously.

“The kind bar you got me this morning.” I could hear him rolling his eyes.

“Are you hungry?”

“You already know the answer to that. I eat less the more stressed I get.”

Jason sighed. “Alfred, do we have any protein shakes, or anything?”

“We do, Master Jason. Mistress Thea, do you have a preference between Strawberry, vanilla or chocolate?”

“No.”

“Anything will be fine, Alfred, thank you.” Jason looked at me. “I think you’re hangry.”

I slowly turned my head toward him, staring him down.

“Or, maybe, that’s just anger.” He stopped. “What’s your pain level?”

“Higher than your chart goes.”

“How can I help?”

“One of the syringes,” I said, sighing deeply.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, going to grab meds from the bag Garrett had given me.

“I’ll tell you when we get a minute to ourselves. I think I may need to tap out for the night.”

Alfred had just appeared with a vanilla protein shake. Jason grabbed it, grabbed me, and handed my crutches to Damian.

“Goodnight, everyone. I apologize for all of you having to witness Jason and I arguing. I assure you I do very much care for him, and won’t try to smother him in his sleep. I usually am much nicer, you really are seeing me under the most extreme of circumstances. Steph, I apologize for threatening you. Tim, I’m sorry I snapped at you. Mr. Wayne, I appreciate you opening your home to me, I promise to be a much better and less hostile houseguest moving forward.”


	19. That isn’t how demands work, darling.  You are very bad at demanding things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason puts Thea to bed with the help of her new buddy, Damian.
> 
> Damian makes a new friend! Who doesn't love new friends? (Damian, usually, but this is an unusual circumstance.)

Once Jason got me settled in bed in his bedroom, propped up against the world’s fluffiest, most sumptuous pillows, with the covers pulled up to my waist, he sat down next to me and asked if I needed anything. He’d already given me an injection of the really hard shit I technically shouldn’t have, so I wouldn’t be long in the land of the conscious. The door was open, and Damian was hovering in the doorway.

“What’s up, honey?” I asked. Damian looked like he was about to snap at me, but then reconsidered.

“Making sure Todd doesn’t kill you.”

“He’s done a pretty good job of avoiding it so far.”

“Tt. He doesn’t have a very good track record of keeping things alive,” Damian said, a vicious smile pulling at his lips.

“Oy! Don’t try to scare her off, Damian!”

“It was a heads-up, a concept you seem unable to grasp,”

I had to press my lips together to keep from snickering. I think I made myself a little buddy.

“Ninjago – do you want anything before you fall asleep?”

“Ninjago?” Damian asked, sounding disdainful.

“First time I met her, she threatened me with a switchblade. Second time I saw her, she took me down with her bo staff. Now she’s Ninjago.”

“JASON YOU BROKE INTO MY APARTMENT.” I said laughing loudly. “Also, I HAVE DEMANDS!”

“Do you?” Jason asked, sounding intrigued.

“Gross,” Damian sounded utterly disgusted.

“Then leave, Demon!” Jason yelled.

“I wanna hear what the demands are.” Damian said, staying put.

“May I please have a glass of water and the oxycodone bottle.”

Jason looked at me skeptically. “…Tiny Terror, do you understand how demands work?”

“And tomorrow, can we please go back to my apartment to grab a couple things? I’d really like to get BunBun. And some clothes.”

“Those…aren’t demands. That isn’t how demands work, darling. You are very bad at demanding things.” He said, laughing.

“I am under an undue amount of stress, kidnapper! I am doing my best!” I cried, smiling.

“Time for bed, beautiful. I promise we’ll get your stuff tomorrow.” Jason leaned over and kissed my head. “Hey, what was it you wanted to tell me earlier? That you couldn’t in front of everyone?”

“I can’t do Spidermonkey anymore. I have the sads.”

“We’ll figure something out. Promise. No sads.”

I looked over at Damian in the doorway.

“Goodnight, Damian,” I told him.

“Goodnight, Feisty.”

Jason was still hovering over the bed. “I’ll be in to check on you in a little bit. If you need to get up – yell for me. Do you promise.”

“I promise.” I said, pouting.

“Goodnight, Girlfriend.”

“Goodnight, Boyfriend.”


	20. The Waynes take introduction to family VERY seriously

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea wakes up alone, and has to figure out navigating around Wayne Manor by herself.
> 
> Then Alfred makes her breakfast, and they have a heart to heart.

The next morning, I woke up and Jason was gone. He’d left a note saying ‘T, gone out, back soon, DO NOT GO DOWNSTAIRS WITHOUT HELP, J’

That seemed kind of odd to me, because he’d never once turned down a chance to stay in bed with me if he could, but things might be different here since this was his family’s house.

My crutches were where Damian had left them propped up against the nightstand nearest the door, and I hobbled my way to the bathroom attached to Jason’s bedroom. I was able to pee without too much difficulty, and Jason (or someone) had been thoughtful to leave out a towel, hand towel and washcloth for me to use, as well as a toothbrush. All the fixtures in the bathroom (tub, sink, toilet) were pretty close together, so holding onto things wasn’t much of an issue.

I started poking around to see what was available in terms of hairbrushes or soap, and behind the bathroom door was a closet that had very tasteful baskets organized in such a way as to make their contents clear and easy to access. I found a hairbrush, and laid it out on the counter to use after I attempted to clean myself as best as possible with soap under the current circumstances. Leaning back against the counter I stripped naked, making sure to hold on to my sweats with one hand so they didn’t fall on the floor, because bending over would be real tricky. I set my clothes on the closed toilet lid, to keep them from getting wet, and grabbed some of Jason’s (I assume it was Jason’s) body wash from the shower. There was absolutely no way I would be able to get in the tub to do this, let alone keep my casts from getting wet, so I used the washcloth with body wash to perform a ‘whore’s bath’ – a sink bath, trying as hard as I could to get as little water on the floor as possible.

I washed everywhere I could reach easily, making sure to hit the hotspots of bits and pits. I dried off with the towel, hanging it up on a towel bar behind me, then got to work on my hair, which by now was a disaster. I have long red hair that tends to lighten in streaks in the summer if I’m outside a lot. Starting from the bottom, I worked my way up to detangle as much as possible. I’m used to not washing my hair every day, so it didn’t look super gross, yet. I opened the medicine cabinet and was pleased to find deodorant, which I applied, realizing with a smile that it smelled like Jason. Finally, I brushed my teeth. Picking up my clothes, I hobbled my way naked back into the bedroom, and very carefully sat on the bed and pulled on the sweatpants. It took a lot more effort than I was expecting. I crutched my way over to the dresser across the room and rifled through drawers until I found one that had t-shirts, and pulled out the first one I laid my hands on. I figured it would be too much to hope for to find a bra in my size, and at this point, his ENTIRE GODDAMN FAMILY had seen me without one. Heading back to the bed, I was surprised to discover it was a Taylor Swift t-shirt, something I would most certainly tease its owner upon his return. I would never have pegged Jason as a Taylor Swift fan, but people like what they like.

Now I was left with ‘how the fuck do I get downstairs safely?’ I opened the bedroom door, and crutched my way to the stairs. I made a face, knowing trying to use crutches to get down the stairs would likely end me back in the hospital, so I settled on scooting on my butt, making sure to keep my right leg elevated so it wouldn’t bang. I was able to hold the crutches securely under my right arm (the cast went up past my elbow, but didn’t cover my shoulder, so I had free range of movement to be able to lift my arm up (to a certain extent)

About halfway down the stairs, I heard a British voice call “I thought I heard a rather unladylike set of thumps coming from this direction,” then Alfred came into view, standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking at me with pursed lips.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

“Making my way down the stairs as safely as possible?”

“Was Master Jason telling you not to come downstairs unaccompanied not clear enough for you?”

“Jason wasn’t there when I woke up. Didn’t quite feel like yelling at the top of my lungs for help would be the best move in Wayne Manor at 8 am.”

“Did Jason not show you the call bell?”

I just raised my eyebrows expectantly.

“I see he did not. I will make sure to bring your attention to it in Jason’s room upon your return upstairs later today.”

I’d finally reached the third stair from the bottom, which was low enough for me to put my left foot on the ground from. Alfred offered to take my crutches from me, and leaned them against the wall, so he could offer his hand to help pull me up. Once I was on solid ground and right side up, Alfred told me to follow him to the kitchen, he had breakfast ready.

The kitchen was GORGEOUS. It was probably as big as my whole apartment, with really big windows over the countertops directly in front of me, and to my far left. The interior of the kitchen had island counters with bar stools running in a broken L straight ahead and to my left, with an entry directly in front of me to get to the stove/fridge/sink. I took the nearest barstool directly in front of me, leaning my crutches up against the wall behind me. Everything was all stainless steel/granite/and copper. The cabinets up and down were a beautiful dark wood, with granite countertops; double gas range, the largest refrigerator I’d ever seen, and a really really nice farmhouse sink (deep, wide, almost as big as my tub at my apartment).

“Master Jason had mentioned you are…particularly stubborn.”

“Alfred, while I do appreciate the concern for my safety, may I politely remind you that I am in completely unfamiliar territory, with no one currently at home that I know, without an instruction manual, or a map. I would appreciate a little grace be extended my way because I did not ask to come here, wasn’t given a choice in the first place, and am unable to leave on my own.”

“You are quite right, Mistress Thea.” I heard Alfred sigh, deeply. “Jason’s handling of this particular situation would have benefited from a little more…finesse.”

I cocked one eyebrow, pursing my lips, but stayed silent. It wasn’t Alfred’s fault I was here.

Alfred had been busy at the stove, but turned and appeared with a plate of the most beautiful French toast I have ever seen, a scrambled egg, and a couple pieces of bacon. My face must have shown the surprise I felt because Alfred asked “Is this not to your liking? Jason assured me that he’d made you this several times.”

“Jason told you what I like for breakfast?”

“Master Jason has told me many things about you – nothing indelicate, I assure you. But his candor about your relationship is extremely uncharacteristic of him; which speaks to the depth of his feelings for you. Let me assure you, the Waynes take introduction to family _very_ seriously.”

“I…see.” I really wasn’t sure how I was supposed to respond to that, so I didn’t say anything else.

Alfred offered me coffee, which I gladly accepted. He placed cream and sugar to my left, within easy reach.

“I do apologize again for my behaviour yesterday – I am most certainly not feeling my best, but that is no excuse.”

“I appreciate your restraint last night – it is often in short supply here in Wayne Manor.”

“I just ask myself ‘Would my mother want to scold me?’ and if the answer is yes, I have to apologize.” I stopped. “Do you happen to know where Jason is? He left a note saying he’d be back soon, but that was it.”

“He told me early this morning he was heading to one of the Wayne Industries buildings, but didn’t give me specifics.”

I started in on the French toast, egg and bacon and had to stop for a moment to savor it.

“Jason said you taught him how to cook?”

“I did. It was necessary; had I not intervened I believe he would have ended up burning the house down.” Alfred said it with a completely straight face, which made me think he wasn’t kidding.

“I deeply appreciate you, Alfred. Jason is a phenomenal cook, and now I know where he gets it from. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to ‘Jason Meals’ as I call them.”

“I can tell you it makes him happy that you are such a fan.”

“Seeing him happy is also something I look forward to.” I said, smiling slightly.

“On that we agree.”


	21. His smart-ass-ness was something of a life-long gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason finally comes home with a proposition for Thea.
> 
> No, not THAT kind of proposition - that wouldn't even be physically possible right now! Geez!

Jason showed up about a half hour later, coming in through the same door Alfred and I used. Both Alfred and I had continued chatting in the kitchen; Alfred had shared some stories of Jason when he was younger which reinforced to me that his smart-ass-ness was something of a life-long gift. This did not come as a surprise to me, for the record. The sass in this one has always been strong, it seems.

When Jason walked into the kitchen I turned, and couldn’t help the happy smile that pulled at my lips just looking at him. He walked over to me directly and gave me a quick kiss, then narrowed his eyes.

“Pray tell how exactly did you get down here, my darling?” His side-eye told me he wasn’t sure if he was irritated or amused.

“….magic?” I responded, seeing how that went over.

“Try again, Tiny Terror.”

“You know, I’m not _actually_ tiny, Jason. I’m 5’10”! That’s tall for a woman!”

“I can rest my head on your head when we hug. You’re tiny to me,” he smiled when he said it. “You can’t cute your way out of this, Thea. How’d you get downstairs?”

I gave him big doe eyes and batted my eyelashes at him. “Are you _sure_ I can’t cute my way out of it?”

“I found her thumping her way downstairs on her posterior,” Alfred answered for me. “For the record, she was doing it relatively safely.”

I watched Jason look up at the ceiling and close his eyes, and sigh deeply. “Oh my God, Thea! You could’ve fallen and broken the other half of you on the stairs! I told you not to go downstairs without help!”

“Newsflash, jackass – if you’d left me in my own goddamn apartment, I wouldn’t even HAVE stairs to worry about.”

I saw Jason press his lips together.

“Oh, and thanks for leaving me alone this morning – that was fun, being in a house that’s unfamiliar, without anyone I know around.”

“Ok, I know you ate, but have you had any pain meds yet today?”

“No. I forgot to take some when I got up.”

“’Forgot.’ How do you ‘forget’ to take pain meds when your pain level is at like 9,000?”

“I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“Is this your way of telling me I’m being bitchy?”

Jason put his index finger and thumb together in the universal ‘a little bit’ kind of way. “Just a ‘lil.”

“Well, then fetch me some oxycodone, kidnapper!”

Jason got me the meds. He sat at a barstool next to me, and ate the plate of French toast and bacon Alfred had set down for him. “So. Can we negotiate a couple more days here, somehow?”

“Maybe.”

“What are your conditions, madame?”

“Until I’m more comfortable here, you’re there when I wake up, every day. I don’t care when you come to bed, because I’m sure I’ll be out long before you are.”

“Done. Anything else?”

“No, I think that’s it.”

After Jason got me to agree to a couple extra days at Wayne Manor, he said he wanted to take me to Wayne Industries to meet with a couple people about potentially upgrading my casts.

“As a Wayne, I have access to equipment and supplies that Gotham General doesn’t have yet. I think we might be able to get you into ones that are at least waterproof, if not less bulky.”

“Wait, are these the shrinky-dink ones I read about in JAMA? The clear ones, that once placed on are heated and conform to the wearers size?”

Jason laughed out loud at my use of “shrinky-dink” – I think I even saw a smirk come from Alfred.

“The very same. You’re cute when you nerd out, you know that?”

“Oh my gosh YESSSSSSSS. They looked so COOL. Can I watch them get printed? Can you take a video? This is gonna be soooo cooooooool!”

“This is Ben-level excitement, isn’t it?”

“YESSSSSSSS. Jason, science is magic that works! This is AH-MAY-ZING.”

I looked over at Jason sitting next to me. He was smiling his ‘I’m a happy boy’ smile.

“Before we do that though, I’d like to stop by my apartment, ok?”

“As you say, so it shall be done, my lady,” Jason said, still smiling.


	22. Did your mom...just threaten me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea and Jason have a surprise meeting outside Thea's apartment, while there to grab her stuff.
> 
> Thea wasn't the only one meeting family, it seems.

We rolled up to my apartment around 10:30 that morning. We got a pretty good spot outside of the building, and were just about to the steps when I heard my mother’s voice call “Theophania Alyce Byrne!” And I froze.

“Fuck my luck,” I said quietly, closing my eyes tightly and pressing my lips together.

“Is that-“ Jason started, as I turned to my mom, clumsily.

“Hey, mom – and Gabe!” I said, nervously.

“Oh, shit,” Jason whispered, next to me.

“Where have you been? You didn’t return my calls last night or this morning!”

I sighed, deeply. WHY TODAY. WHY NOW. THE UNIVERSE HATES ME FOR SURE.

“Mom, Gabe, I’d like you to meet Jason Wayne, my boyfriend.”

“Your who now?” My brother asked, one eyebrow cocked.

Jason whispered beside me “If he asks me if I’m new, I swear to God, Thea-“

“And wait – “ Gabe started. “Jason WAYNE? Like, Bruce Wayne, Wayne?”

“The very same,” Jason said from beside me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” He stretched out his hand and both my mother and my brother shook.

“Theophania, why are you not at home?” My mother asked, sharply. I only got the full name when she was PISSED.

“My darling,” I started, turning to Jason, “Care to explain where I was _last night_?” I asked meaningfully.

“Mrs. Byrne, I took Thea to meet my family last night.”

I shot Jason a _look_. “What Jason’s not telling you is he didn’t tell me where we were going, or what we were going to do.”

“Wait, do you mean you went to Wayne Manor?” Gabe asked, looking at both of us like we were crazy.

“Yes. In his pajamas.”

“Oh, shit!” Gabe started laughing so hard tears ran down his cheeks.

“You’ve always been my least favorite brother,” I hissed at him, making him laugh harder.

“Son,” my mother started in her mom tone “Do you have a death wish?”

“No, ma’am, I do not, why do you ask?”

“You seen her angry?” Gabe struggled to get out he was still giggling.

“I have now!” Jason said, cheerily.

“I’m honestly impressed you’re still standing,” my mother said, pursing her lips. “Thea is not known for her…restraint.”

Gabe laughed out loud. “Yeah, if I didn’t know better, which I _do_ , I’d swear she was one of the Bat-Family. Tabby, you’d fit right in,” Gabe used his oldest nickname for me, which only he and Mike were allowed to use.

I snorted. “Not likely. Aren’t they all ‘peace and love and non-lethal violence’? I don’t think I’d quite fit in. Anyway. Do you guys want to come in? I’m grabbing some stuff to take back to Jason’s house.”

“You make that sound so pedestrian,” Gabe said, making a face at me.

“Theophania, why on EARTH are you staying there?” my mother asked, her face a mask of displeasure.

“Mrs. Byrne, our house has accommodations more suited to injuries of Thea’s type. I asked her to give it a try for a couple days. We’re going to Wayne Industries next, to replace her casts with ones that aren’t quite as bulky.”

“They are SO COOL, mom! They 3-D print them! I read about them in the Journal of the American Medical Association! I’m so excittteeeed!”

“Nerd,” Gabe shot at me.

“Jerk,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Let’s go upstairs.” And with that, Jason whisked me up in his arms, handing my crutches to Gabe.

“Well, that’s…convenient. And…new,” Gabe said from behind us.

“Right??” I enthused to Gabe, over Jason’s shoulder. “And Jason acts like it’s NBD!”

“It’s not, nutjob.” Jason said.

I shot Gabe a look, and Gabe looked back at me, like he didn’t know what to think.

Jason, my mother and I took the elevator, Gabe took the stairs. In the elevator, Jason put me down, so I could converse like a normal person.

“Theophania, why have you not mentioned Jason to us before?”

“Uh, we, uh, we only recently decided we were dating.” I hated being put on the spot, but man, she’s my _mom_.

“Are you being safe?” she asked, pursing her lips at me.

“ _MOM_!”

“Safe?” Jason asked, not quite understanding.

“Practicing safe sex. I assume you’re using protection, and have been tested.” My mother said, completely straight faced.

“We haven’t had sex, mom.”

“Thea, you don’t have to lie to me, my love.”

“Mom, I’m not-“

“Mrs. Byrne, Thea isn’t lying. We haven’t. I really like your daughter, and wanted to take things more slowly.”

I saw my mom look Jason up and down, for real this time. She said ‘hmm,’ in the way that meant she approved.

“Get tested, then.” My mother said, her tone indicating there was no other alternative.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The LONGEST ELEVATOR RIDE EVER IN HISTORY finally came to an end, and we shuffled out. Gabe was waiting for us at my front door. I handed Jason my keys, and he opened the door while Gabe gave me a _look_ to which I just made the ‘EEEK’ face.

“That fun, huh?”

“She was peak mom about it.”

“Oh, boy!” Gabe said laughing.

“I can hear both of you, I’m standing right here.” Mom said, clearly rolling her eyes.

Once we were all inside the apartment, my mom pulled me aside, pulling a package out of the world’s largest purse in history.

“I found these for you, I hope they fit.”

I opened the package and found a couple packs of side tie bikinis.

“Awww, yissssss!” I exclaimed, excited I could finally put underwear on again. “Thank you, mama!” Completely forgetting my crutches, I went to throw my arms around her, and lost my balance, and almost knocked her down, but then Jason swooped in, grabbing me, and helping my mom stand back up.

“Tiny Terror, you gotta stop doing that,” Jason said, shaking his head with laughter. “Shall we look for a baby leash, like one of the backpack ones? Do they make a Tasmanian Devil one?”

“Ha ha, very funny. Does that make you my babysitter, Jase?”

“Thea, come with me into your bedroom, let me help you get those on.” My mom started walking toward the bedroom, and I followed.

“Gabe – be nice to Jason – I like him.”

Once we were in my room, my mother shut the door.

“Pants,” she told me, indicating Jason’s sweats needed to come off. She had to help, because of the crutches.

“You _like_ this boy,” my mom said, with _that_ smile, the smile that meant she knew a secret. She busied herself with opening the package of underwear, and positioning my good leg so she had a better angle to help put them on.

“I do, mama. I like Jason a lot.”

“Does he treat you well?”

“He does.” I said, smiling.

“What do you like most about him?”

“Mom, he is CRAZY smart. And really funny. He makes me laugh all the time.”

“You could probably cut yourself on his cheekbones,” my mom said with a sly smile, making me blush. “Why didn’t you return my calls last night?”

“When we got to his house, my purse ended up in the living room, and I ended up in Jason’s bedroom. I fell asleep before I could grab it. I’m sorry. Yesterday was…not fantastic.”

My mom had finished with the bikinis (which did fit, praise the Maker!) and had gotten my sweats back on. I asked her to help me pack some stuff to take to the Manor, and she pulled down a duffel bag from the top of my closet parallel to my side of the bed.

“Tell me why.”

“Jason didn’t tell me where we were going when he said we should go for a drive, and hadn’t mentioned meeting his family prior to that. I freaked out.”

“Understandable.”

“His _entire_ family was there. Including Bruce Wayne.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No ma’am, no I am not. I got to meet Bruce Wayne wearing my boyfriend’s pajamas, with no underwear on, having not showered since last Saturday night, while taking a lot of narcotic pain medication. Not fantastic.”

“You were not kidding. Wow. I’m so sorry, honey. That sounds really uncomfortable.”

I sighed. “He meant well; I know he did. We’re still getting to know each other.”

“You’re ok going back to his house?”

“Yeah, I think so. He and Tim - did I mention Tim from downstairs is his brother? That’s how we met. They both said Wayne Manor is better suited for major injuries, but I was so done last night I didn’t get a chance to look around. I have a feeling Jason will give me a better tour this afternoon, when we’re done with the new casts.”

“What’s his family like?”

“I interacted most with his little brother Damian and their butler, Alfred. Alfred made me breakfast this morning, and we got to chat a bit. You’d like Damian – he’s a pistol. Tim was there, but I’ve known Tim for a while, and I met his two sisters, Cassie and Steph, and they both seem nice, but I was so cranky last night I don’t think I made the best first impression.”

“Doesn’t Jason have an older brother? Richard?” My mom read the society page of the Gotham Gazette and kept up with socialite stuff (obviously) more than I did.

“He wasn’t there last night; I’ll have to ask Jason about that later.”

“What’s Bruce like?”

“Nice? He took my less than stellar introduction pretty well – and before you ask, yes I did apologize for my behaviour multiple times. Mr. Wayne and I didn’t talk very much.”

I asked my mom to pull out specific yoga pants, looser PJ pants, a pair of old jeans, a couple PJ tops, a couple bras, and several tank tops, t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts. Jason had said the new casts wouldn’t be very thick at all, so wearing ‘normal’ clothes shouldn’t be an issue. It sounded like he had quite a bit of experience with them, which had made me raise an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything else about it. Mom threw in the new bikinis, and BunBun. Then we went about gathering electronic devices (my laptop, Kindle, and various chargers). We then moved to the bathroom, and I threw my med bottles and boxes, some toiletries I knew they most likely didn’t have (my exact brand of deodorant and shampoo and conditioner, my hair cream, my face wash and face potions, my little bag of makeup, and my favorite tiny bottle of perfume – a travel size). My mom also tossed in a couple pairs of socks, which, seeing as I could only wear one at a time, would last a while. I asked her to grab my cozy sweater from the top of my dresser, the one I wore the night Red stopped by, right before this whole mess went down.

“I think that’s it.”

“Sure you don’t want to bring anything else?”

“I’m not sure what else I _could_ bring.” I looked at the bag on the bed. “You want me to fetch Jason to carry it?”

“Why that would be _delightful_!” my mom said, a big smile on her face.

I opened the door and called out to the other room. “Hey Jase, can you come grab my bag, please?”

“You bet, Ninjago.”

I saw Gabe giving Jason a weird look after the ‘ninjago’ comment. Looking right at Gabe, I said “It’s a whole thing.”

“A whole thing you can explain?”

“Not until you’ve had some alcohol, no.” I said, laughing.

“Thea, is this it?” Jason’s voice came from behind me, sounding confused.

“What…else do you think I need? You guys have a washer and dryer, right?”

“Well, yeah, but – I just figured you’d have way more stuff.”

“My mom helped me pack? What did you think I was gonna bring, my shoe collection? I can only wear one at a time.”

“I guess the Demon was right – you’re not real fussy. I didn’t see any hair stuff in there, like a hairdryer, or all the other stuff women use.”

“Nope. Not my thing.”

“Huh. Ok. You got BunBun?”

I smiled, because he remembered. “Yep! BunBun’s ready to go on an adventure!”

I walked further into the living room to stand next to Gabe, who was staring at my fire escape.

“You STILL have that damn bucket out there?” I could hear his eyes rolling. He was referring to my ‘Bat Bucket’.

“Yes. If I can help keep them alive and out of my ER, it’s the least I can do.”

“Snacks, too?”

“I can’t imagine it’d be easy for them to get drive thru, Gabe. I can just see Batman strolling into McDonalds to get a happy meal for one of the Robins.”

“Thea – what they’re doing is _illegal_.”

“Yeah, but is it hurting anyone?”

“You know at least one of them does. Red Hood. He kills people.”

“But…doesn’t that make your job easier? It makes my job WAY easier, gotta say.”

“What they do is _dangerous_ , Thea!”

“I’m not arguing that, Gabe! Geez, why are we even arguing about this at all?”

Jason interrupted to tell me he was taking my bag down to his car. I kissed his cheek, and I swear I saw him smiling at Gabe’s and my argument. Once the door was shut, Gabe looked at me.

“He’s funny. I like him. He said he met Ben? And Ben seems to be a fan? Jason was ok with your Ben Fangirl moments?”

“Yep, Yep and Yep. He was a little confused at first when I had a Ben moment at the laundromat, but it didn’t seem to bother him once he realized I wasn’t in danger.”

“I have never seen one human so excited about the existence of another human before – I said it then, and I still stand by that statement.” Jason said from behind me, making me jump. He had a big smile on his face.

“The shrieking though, amiright?” Gabe said, rolling his eyes at me.

“Nah, I thought it was cute,” Jason walked up to me, and murmured to me that we were going to have to take off soon, because our appointment was in about a half hour.

“I think we’re going to have to head out, the appointment for my casts is soon.”

Gabe gave me as much of a hug as my crutches would allow, kissing me on the top of my head. “No more injuries, Baby Bird, you hear me?”

“Yes, Big Bird,” I said snickering at my nickname for him since I could talk. “Love you, big brother.”

“Love you, baby sister.”

My mom came up next. “I love you, sweetheart. Remember to use your good manners words, ok?”

That made Jason snort.

“Yes, mama. I love you too.”

My mom then addressed Jason. “Jason Wayne, do you remember what I told you in the elevator?”

“Yes ma’am, I do.”

“Do not forget it.”

“No ma’am, I won’t.”

“Also – her phone stays with her. Do you understand me? If I or her father or brothers is unable to get ahold of her, well. We know where you live, son.” She winked at him, but that was the tone she used when she was _not_ fucking around.

Jason’s eyes had gotten real big, and he’d gone completely still. “Did your mom…just threaten me?”

“Yes.”

“I see where you got it from,” he said, still seeming shocked.


	23. So, her arm and leg are going to be bullet proof?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea finally sees Wayne Industries Research Division! Thea expresses disappointment they couldn't have fit an E in between the Wayne and Industries part of that name.
> 
> Jason and Thea get to see an old friend! Thea gets a job offer! Jason gets to see Thea's new cast friendly underwear!

Wayne Industries Research Division was...amazing. Jason had to keep pulling my hand because I kept stopping and staring at…everything. There was just so much technology that I’d only read about in books and magazines and it was all RIGHT HERE.

“I have a feeling I’ll be bringing you back, won’t I?”

I lit up. “Would you? Really?”

“For the world’s most loveable nerd, yes. Yes I will.”

“Oh boy!” I said energetically. I paused. “Was there no way to fit an ‘e’ between the Wayne and Industries in the name of the building?”

“Why, because then it would have spelled ‘WEIRD’?”

“EXACTLY.”

“I tried to get him to change it, way back, but he wouldn’t.”

“That’s just a wasted opportunity, there,”

We’d finally arrived at the exam room where all this was going down. Unlike Gotham General, this room was HUGE. It was brightly lit, and everything seemed to be made out of glass. There were two doctors that I could easily identify (stethoscopes, and all) and two other gentlemen wearing white lab coats that I could not. One quickly walked up to Jason and wrapped him in a huge hug. I saw Jason had a huge grin on his face, so obviously this was someone dear.

“Lucius! I didn’t know you’d be here today!” Jason said with a smile.

“I saw you two on the calendar, and I cleared my schedule.”

“Lucius Fox, this is Thea Byrne.”

I started. I knew that name. “Wait – Lucius Fox, you’re Luke’s dad!”

“I am indeed,” Lucius smiled. “If I’m not mistaken, you took several college classes with him when you both were in high school.”

“I did! It is such a pleasure to see you again! He spoke so highly of you, it’s an honor to see you again!”

Smiling, Lucius looked me up and down. “Well, let’s get a look at you to see what we’re working with.”

I frowned, and Jason caught it, giving my hand a squeeze. “I’m right here.”

“It’s just like a bikini,” I said, under my breath. Jason helped me up onto the exam table, and helped me take off my t-shirt. With only a little bit of wiggling, he helped with his sweats, too. Thank God we’d seen my mom this morning for the underwear bit. 

From behind me, Jason slid a finger lightly under the seam of the back of my panties and said in my ear “I like these,” giving me goosebumps.

“We certainly do have our work cut out for us – my goodness.”

One of the doctors had me lay down on the exam table, and Jason stayed by my head, as out of the way as he could get. He took hold of my left hand, bringing it up over my head. They started the plaster cast removal process, and I was glad Jason was holding my hand. It hurt. The casts were relatively new, and the vibrations of the saw hurt.

Jason saw me wincing. “I have more meds in my pocket – what can you take?”

“Probably Oxy. Not one of the syringes – I want to stay conscious for this.”

Jason asked one of the other doctors present if we could get a bottle of water, and I swear they JUMPED at his command. Once the bottle of water was obtained, Jason helped me put an oxycodone in my mouth, and chased it with a sip of water.

They’d started with my arm. Once they got to my leg, things got a lot worse. The pain was excruciating. When the cast was off, everyone in the room had a great view of the mess that was my leg. Jason visibly paled.

“Thea, you never told me you had multiple compound fractures.” He walked over and just looked at my leg – really looking. “And you’ve just been – living on oxycodone?”

“Jason, I told you what my pain level was.”

“But – how are you even UPRIGHT, Thea? I can’t believe Garrett let you out of the hospital. He’s the one who put you back together, right?”

“Yes.”

I saw Jason wipe his face with his hand. “Christ on a bike, Thea. That’s not just ‘Hey, Jase, I broke my leg.’ This is ‘Hey, Jase, some asshole broke my leg IN HALF in multiple places and oh, by the way, it hurts like a son of a bitch’.”

“I’m not a whiner.” I looked at him turning green at the gills. “Maybe this clear cast thing isn’t such a good idea.” I hooked my finger at him, motioning for him to come closer. I took his hand again. “Jason, it hurts. Whining about it is truly not going to make it hurt any less.”

The doctors had taken up Jason’s previously vacated space and were debriding the wound, cleaning it out, and applying some sort of antibacterial gel. Then one of them pulled out a syringe.

“Whoa – what’s that?” I asked, tensing up.

“It’s a local numbing agent. It’s non-narcotic, but it should help ease the pain. We can give you some to take home, if you’d like.”

“We’d like.” Jason said, emphatically.

As soon as the injection was done, my leg started feeling better. Like, remarkably better.

Lucius came to speak to us. “We’re going to start the 3D printing. I’d heard you wanted to watch?” I nodded my head eagerly. “I’m going to need you to keep your limbs completely still, ok? Now that they’re not in casts they’re especially vulnerable.”

Jason picked me up, very, very gently, and we followed Lucius to the printer. It was incredible. I guess once the casts were off, Lucius had been able to scan both my arm and leg, to account for size.

“What are the casts made out of?” I asked, unable to help myself. I really wanted to wriggle out of Jason’s arms to press my face up to the glass of the printer, but I could tell he could read my mind just then and said “Nuh-uh, gorgeous.”

“It’s…proprietary, but it’s essentially medical grade Kevlar, but a little more rigid.”

I felt Jason roll his eyes. “So, her arm and leg are going to be bullet proof?”

“I wouldn’t test it out, or anything, but yes.”

“That’s SO COOL.” I said, fascinated. “It’s part ballistic weave, isn’t it.”

Lucius’ head snapped to me, his eyes concerned. “How did you-“

More to myself than anything else, I said “If you combined the flexibility of ballistic weave with the impenetrability of the Kevlar…”

“Jason – are you sure she doesn’t work for us? Or, a competitor?”

“I swear on my life, Lucius, she works for Gotham General, as one of the head ER nurses.”

“Could she work for us?” Lucius asked, laughing.

I heard Jason groan. “I don’t think my heart could take it. Truly. I can only imagine the amount of times she’d call asking ‘hey, I made this new thing, can you come test it on me?’”

Lucius laughed out loud. “Bit of a daredevil, is she?”

“She plays roller derby, Lucius. She’s a blackbelt in Judo.”

“And Jiu-Jitsu!” I said, happily, humming to myself in his arms.

“You never told me that!” Jason said, laughing. “Any others?”

“No, just those two.”

One of the doctors called from behind us. “All right, lovebirds, we need Thea back on the table.”

The process of replacing the casts was far less uncomfortable than the taking off of the old ones. Once it was complete, I was astounded. The casts were only millimeters thick, whereas the old casts were much bigger.

“And I can bathe in these?”

“Absolutely.” Lucius confirmed. “Nothing hotter than hot-tub heat, though – got it?” He asked, looking at both Jason and I. “Hotter than that, and they could start to melt.”

“Hot tub?” I asked, confused. “Is that…a possibility?” I asked Jason.

Jason chuckled. “Yes, love…-ly.” He stumbled. “Lovely!”

I looked at him, skeptically. “Oooh-kay. That was weird. Whatever, weirdo.”

Jason helped me get dressed, and we said our goodbyes. “Thank you so much, all of you. This is such an honor, I am so thankful for all your help.”

Lucius walked us out. “Jason – get her an application, would you?”

“NO, Lucius!”

“Thank you so much, Lucius – it was such a pleasure to see you again. Please tell Mrs. Fox and Luke I say hi, but I’ll send Luke a text to check in anyway.”

Lucius wrapped me in as much of a hug as he could. “It was my pleasure, Thea.”


	24. Fuck Me Running, Thea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea and Jason reunite with ANOTHER old friend, and possible playmate, prior to taking a shower. Or, not taking a shower.
> 
> Before taking the opportunity to get to know each other better. Intimately better.

On the way back to Wayne Manor, Jason and I ‘argued’ about lunch.

“You’re still insisting that I eat?”

“I am. But now, it won’t be just me you’ll have to face – now you get Alfred, too.”

I rolled my eyes, and saw Jason’s eyebrow quirk up, but he said nothing. We pulled up to the Manor, and Jason told me to stay put, while he grabbed my bag. I got up, out of the car, and pulled my crutches from the backseat.

“Woman. What did I tell you.”

“You’re not the boss of me, Jason,” I said, sweetly. The growl that followed made my lower bits clench up in anticipation. We walked, slowly to the front door, which Jason opened for me. He asked me to wait in the parlour while he dropped my bag in his room, but I just kept moving forward into the kitchen. Alfred was waiting with lunch (beef stew, from the look of it), a look of amusement on his otherwise unreadable face.

“Thea, I swear to God – Hey, Alfred- can you not just listen when I ask you to do something?”

“What?” I lightly snapped back at him. “I walked to the kitchen, Jase. I need to get used to the crutches. You can’t carry me everywhere, goofball.”

I heard him mumble something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘I can try’ and asked “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Master Jason – if you wish to be heard, please speak up. I couldn’t hear you over the sound of Mistress Thea’s eyes rolling.”

I couldn’t help it, I snorted. “I appreciate you, Alfred. Very much.”

“Many thanks, Mistress Thea.”

“What’s for lunch, Alfred?” Jason asked, sitting next to me on a barstool.

“Beef stew. I thought one handed eating might be easier for Thea, than having to try using two hands.”

The consideration of that small gesture made my heart full, and I just KNEW where Jason had gotten his thoughtfulness from. “Thank you, Alfred, I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness regarding my current…lack of available arms. It smells delicious.”

Speaking of my hotter-than-he-had-any-right-to-be boyfriend, I felt his hands on my waist, and he whispered in my ear “Something to drink? Water?”

“Water would be wonderful, thank you,” I said, smiling. I watched Alfred get up from where he had been sitting, but Jason asked that he sit back down, which Alfred did. Jason got three glasses from a cabinet, and walked to the fridge to fill them from the door, giving his glass and Alfred’s glass three ice cubes each, and none for my glass (I don’t like ice in water, most of the time). Jason handed the glasses to us both, putting his at his seat, then got bowls from the cabinets and dished out three helpings of stew. He placed the bowls at each place setting, then got honest-to-God bread plates from ANOTHER cabinet and pulled out a loaf of homemade crusty bread from the oven. He set the loaf on a cutting board, and went to wash his hands before ripping the loaf into pieces before setting one piece on each plate, and brining a butter dish over set next to them.

I stared at Jason, openmouthed. He noticed, and smiled.

“What? You’re not the only one here with manners. Alfred would never eat with me unless _everything_ was done _properly_.”

“Quite right, Master Jason. This is quite…unorthodox.”

“Well, thank you for eating with us, Alfred, I know it means a lot to Jason, so thank you.”

Once I’d gotten a taste of the stew, I turned to Jason, eyes wide. “This is soooo goooood. Can you add it to the rotation, once we’re back home?”

Jason smiled into his stew, his cheeks flushing. “For you? Of course.”

I hadn’t seen Jason’s cheeks turn pink many times, and chalked it up to the heat of the stew.

Once lunch was over, I allowed Jason to carry me up the stairs – which had me giggling – up to his room. I needed to call my mom to let her know all was well. Jason said he was going to go get the shower ready, but he left the room, making me scrunch up my face in confusion.

I facetimed my mom, actually catching both she and my dad at home.

“Hi mama, hi Daddy!”

“Everything go ok with the new casts, sweetheart?” My mom asked, a look of concern on her face.

“What’s this I hear about a new boyfriend?” my dad piped up from behind her. I rolled my eyes.

“Mom- casts are great; they’re waterproof and super, super thin – and Daddy, get this – THEY’RE BULLETPROOF.”

“No kidding!” my dad said, looking impressed. “THAT IS BY NO MEANS AN INVITATION TO TRY THEM OUT, THEOPHANIA.” My father roared.

“I promise I’ll be good, Dad. Jason would KILL ME if I tried to do something unsafe. He throws fits when I use the crutches, instead of him carrying me.”

“I like him already.” My dad said, making me giggle. “When do I get to meet him?”

My eyebrows went up. “Um. If you _promise_ you won’t threaten him, maybe we’ll drop by this weekend. Maybe.” I saw Jason open the bedroom door, and lean in the doorway, catching the last of the conversation. “Gabe said he liked him, Dad.” I said quickly.

I heard my dad harumph. “Fine. No threats.”

“I need to get going – I think the shower is ready. I love you both!”

Both my parents told me they loved me, then we hung up.

“What’s up, hot stuff?” I asked Jason, still standing in the doorway.

“That’s _my_ line,” he said, smiling.

“Not from where I’m sitting,” I purred. I crooked a finger and motioned for him to come over. He came and sat next to me on the bed. I felt his arm around my waist, and with my left arm, I pulled his face towards me, and kissed the ever-loving life out of him. Jason, not expecting that, reacted as any red-blooded human would, and tried to pull all of me closer, completely forgetting all my various injuries. Wincing, I pulled away. “Easy on the ribs, Sex God.”

Jason winced, then pointed at the pillow. “Lay down, head there.”

I did as I was told, and then Jason was on top of me, keeping all his weight off of me with his left arm, and legs. His right hand cupped my left cheek, and leaned down to kiss me. _Kiss_ me kiss me. All of me wanted to wrap myself around him, but I couldn’t. Even lifting my pelvis hurt. I grabbed what parts of him I could with my left hand, but had to be super careful I didn’t try to pull him on top of me – that happened once and my yelp of pain was enough to make Jason want to stop completely. I didn’t let that happen.

“Jason,” I said breathlessly. “Shower with me.”

“Thea – I – are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Please.” I almost begged. He breathed his ‘ok’ into my mouth as he kissed me. I felt him pulling away, and I whined.

I heard him chuckle in my ear, and he whispered “And here I thought you weren’t a whiner,” then he picked me up. He turned left from his room and walked us down the hall to stop at another bedroom door. He set me down, then said he had to make a call.

“You have to do what?” I asked, confused. Jason pulled out his phone and dialed a contact. In seconds he was facetiming.

“Jay! How are you, babe?” I bubbly female voice asked.

“Hey Babs! I’m good – you?”

“Good! What’s up? You’re not in trouble, are you?”

“No, no trouble, I was actually calling to see if it would be all right if my girlfriend and I borrowed your shower.”

“Girlfriend?” Babs asked, sounding extremely curious.

“Babs Gordon, meet Thea Byrne, my girlfriend.

“Waitwaitwait – Thea? THEA? MY Thea?”

“Babs!!” I cried, once Jason handed the phone to me, with a look of “What the fuck did I just get myself into?” on his face. “Hi! Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize you knew Jason!”

“Thea! I didn’t realize YOU knew Jason! And you’re dating!” She started laughing and couldn’t stop. “This is- this is too precious. Ohmygod.” She was doubled over with laughter. “You two – wait’ll I tell my dad! He’s going to go _ballistic_.” She kept laughing. “Does Dick know?”

Jason, looking completely befuddled at Babs’ sudden hysterical laughter said “No, I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“And wait – you guys are at the Manor? What’dya need MY shower for?”

Jason took his phone back to give Babs a better view of me on my crutches. “Thea was in an accident, and I think it’d be easier for her to use your shower than mine. Lifting her right leg is difficult.”

“Jesus, T – what the fuck happened to you?”

“I’ll tell you later. I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

“Yes, of course you two can use my bathroom. Anything you need. Thea – is Jason taking good care of you?”

“ _Very_ good care,” I said, with _tone_ , making Jason blush.

“Oooh, I like the sound of that. Well, in the event you tire of male companionship, my *ahem* bed is always open for company.”

“Jeez, Babs, are you trying to poach my girlfriend?”

“Poach is such an ugly word, Jason. Think of it as…variety.”

“Well, once I’m back in one piece, why don’t we reconvene, and perhaps start negotiations on additions to our twosome. Sound amenable to all parties? Good? Good. Babs, sorry to cut this short, but I really need a shower. We’ll talk soon. Love to you and your family!”

“Bye, guys!” Babs said, ending the call.

“Did you just,” Jason started sounding completely dazed, “Negotiate a threesome for us with Babs?”

“Outlook optimistic.” I paused. “Jason, why’d you call Babs for permission, anyway? We both know her, and we both know she wouldn’t have had a problem with it.”

Jason blushed. “I just, wanted to make sure it was ok, that’s all.”

Looking at him, I realized something. “You have a _crush_ on her!” I cried, gleefully. “Don’t you?”

“No! It’s not – no, that’s not it,” he said, unconvincingly.

“Jason – my darling – it’s fine. I’m not mad, I think it’s cute! You have a crush on Babs!”

“You’re…not mad?” He asked, seriously. He was SERIOUS.

“Of course I’m not mad, goofball! Everybody gets crushes. It’s when crushes are acted on without talking to any currently involved partner, is when things get messy. Also, Babs was my very first crush, so you’d get an automatic pass anyway.” I said, laughing.

Jason picked me up and walked me to Babs’ bathroom, that was indeed more appropriate for someone with my injuries, or in Babs’ case, worse. There were grip bars everywhere, and the shower, which was humongous, barely had a lip to it, so it would be much easier for me to use on my own. I saw Jason had brought my toiletries into the bathroom for me to use, which warmed my heart thinking about, because he HAD put thought into it.

“I didn’t pull anything out yet, because I wasn’t sure what you were going to want.”

“Thank you, Jason – I appreciate this more than you’ll ever know.” I said, kissing him gently.

“Thea – you’re _sure_ you want me to take a shower with you?” Jason asked, again.

“A) Yes, I’m sure and b) it’ll be much easier to wash my hair with your help. Jason – if you don’t want to, just say so – I completely understand. I don’t want to push you.”

“I want to, Thea,” he said, and there was just an edge of sex god in his voice.

“Promise me you’ll help me wash my hair before we do anything fun.”

“I promise,” he said, smiling the smile of his that made my insides melt.

“Undress me, boyfriend,” I said in as sultry a voice I could manage. Jason pulled off his shirt before he started helping me, giving me a very, very good look at his gorgeous chest. He looked up at me, then his face scrunched up in concentration.

“What”? I asked, concerned.

“Trying to work out placement.”

“Placement of wha-“ I tried to get out before he snaked an arm behind me to hold me up while he kissed me. Oh, sweet Jesus, he kissed me. I leaned my left crutch on the wall behind me so I could grab his hair with my good hand. He was all teeth, and tongue, and biting and sucking. His free hand was everywhere – in my hair, on my ass, pulling my sweats down, then fingers snaked down past the waistband of my bikinis and gently pushed my labia apart, to dip his fingers inside me to test out the waters, so to speak. When he pulled them back out, they were glistening, and he sucked them into his mouth. Jason straightened up, and picked me up and set me so my left side was facing the doorway, with grab bars within reach on my left.

“You feel stable?”

“Yuh- yeah,” I said breathlessly.

Jason took his sweats from around my ankles, gently. Then he proceeded to take the t-shirt of his I was wearing off, very, very slowly. His hands firm on my sides as they skimmed my flesh as he pulled the shirt up. He lingered on my breasts for a time, which pulled moans from me, unbidden. He was licking circles around my areolas, first one side, then the other. He would nip one of my nipples with his teeth, while pinching the other with his fingers. I could feel my own wetness dripping down my legs. Jason finally pulled the damn shirt off, and I was left in my underwear. He took his time…appreciating me – it’s the only word I could use to describe the look he was giving me.

“You are literal human perfection, Thea.” He said, and his voice was _really_ husky.

He came up to me and kissed me again – deeply, but he didn’t touch me; I think he was scared I would tip over. Then his hands were on my breasts, and I sucked in a breath, surprised at his touch. He reached around to unclasp my bra, and with my help, pulled it off and tossed it on the floor. I felt his mouth on one of my breasts, his tongue swirling over a nipple, his teeth gently grazing, and sucking. Then he switched to my other breast. He had me moaning, begging for more. I felt his hands at my hips, and felt fingers undoing the sides of my panties. Once they fell, Jason got on his knees in front of me and just…stared. He stared for so long I got worried.

“Jase?” I asked, but he quickly cut me off with a finger held up.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he breathed, before slipping a finger between my labia. This time I heard Jason moan. “So wet,” he said, quietly, as he slipped two fingers inside of me, and curled them, starting to rock them back and forth. He looked up at me. “Still stable?”

I couldn’t find my voice, so I just nodded as a moan escaped. His fingers worked around my slick walls. His fingers seemed to be searching for something, and once they hit the spongy tissue inside me, he went to work, kneading, pressing, pushing. He pulled his fingers out briefly, sucked on them, then nudged my left leg out further, to give him better access. He asked again if I was stable, and I nodded with a moan as his fingers found my g-spot again. My eyes were closed when I felt his tongue lick up and down my outer lips, and I groaned, and my left knee buckled.

Jason looked up, his nose and mouth slick with my wetness. “Baby – do you need me to hold you up?”

“I might, Jase.”

He sat back on his heels, fingers still inside me, considering. I was a whimpering mess above him. In one smooth motion, he whisked me up in one arm, leaning my right crutch against the nearest wall, and deposited me on a bench that folded out of the shower.

“Move your most beautiful ass right up to the edge, T. Is your right leg on the floor? Good. Spread your legs for me, Thea.” Jason used his sex god voice and I could have come right then, without any further provocation. I did as he bid me. “That’s _good_ ,” he said, replacing his fingers back inside me. “You stable?” he asked again, making sure he saw a nod before he continued, his face descending to take my clit in his mouth. This man was a _pro_. His fingers had again found my g-spot, and his tongue was hitting my clit with the perfect amount of pressure, and speed. He pushed a third finger inside me, spreading them out, the pads of his fingers applying further pressure to the spongy tissue. I felt my climax building inside me, feeling like a spring winding tighter and tighter. Jason must have felt it too, because he said “Come for me, Thea,” in _that_ voice, and I swear to God that was all it took. His fingers were still working inside me as I screamed his name, and I could feel myself gushing around his fingers. He continued milking everything he could, licking and sucking with his mouth. When my walls had finished twitching, I pulled him up to me with my left arm, to kiss the ever loving hell out of him.

“Fuck me,” I told him, ready to pounce on him if I had to.

“Baby, I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you _can’t_? Jason. I want your cock inside me _now_.” I growled.

“Thea – I ran the numbers – there is literally no position in which I can fuck you that I won’t hurt you more, or newly. Believe me. There is nothing I want more than to bury myself inside you and fuck you until neither of your legs work.”

I was not taking no for an answer. “This bench will move up, right? It’s adjustable?”

“Thea-“

“Move it up, Jason.”

“Thea. I don’t think you can get your legs wide enough apart for my hips.”

“Please, Jason, please,” I begged.

With me _still on it_ Jason moved the bench up a few more pegs, so he could stand and my hips were waist level with him.

“Thea, for the record, I think this is a very, very bad idea.”

“Oh, shit.”

“What?” he asked, his face a mask of concern.

“We haven’t gotten tested.”

Jason shook his head, and smiled. “I had em’ draw blood from both of us at Wayne Industries today. I got the results back on my phone. We’re both clean.”

“Then come here, goddammit.”

I tried. I really, really did. But Jason was right, and it was too much. My right leg was too far off the floor, and the pain was not something I could push past. I was almost in tears from frustration, and pain. Jason lowered the bench back down, so my right leg could touch the floor.

“Thea – sweetheart – I am not willing to risk hurting you more just so I can make love to you sooner rather than later.”

“But I want you inside me,” I said, and I did start to cry. Jason wiped my tears with the pad of his thumb.

“You have no idea how much you’re filling my heart right now. I am willing to bury myself in your most delicious pussy for the next few months until you’re healed. Deal?”

“No! That isn’t _fair_ , Jason!”

I heard Jason chuckle, and looked at him. His face was still glistening from the wetness of my pussy, and he stood up, unbuckling his belt, throwing his pants and underwear out of the shower in one go.

I had never seen Jason naked before, and I lost my ability to speak. He was a walking God. A literal Adonis made flesh. My eyes roamed from the indent of his hip bones (a personal favorite of mine) to the v outlined by his muscle definition above his groin. Then I looked lower, and felt my breath hitch. He was just…perfect. His engorged cock was bigger than I expected, bigger than I’d felt through his underwear, but that made sense. He walked two steps closer to me, so the cock I was so thoroughly admiring was directly in front of me.

“Let’s make it fair, Thea.” Jason said, huskily.

“Raise the bench up a notch.”

Once I was at the right height, I used my left hand to gently finger his balls. I heard him hiss in a breath. I licked a bead of pre-cum and savored the taste. Salty, but not terribly bitter. Grabbing the base of his cock firmly, I licked up and down his shaft, pulling a low moan out of my beautiful boyfriend.

“Do I have your undivided attention?” I asked, using my version of the Sex God voice. I saw him nod, wordlessly. “Yes? Then let’s begin.”

I wrapped my lips around his girth, sliding down as far as I could, then swallowing to go further. I heard a long groan escape his lips above me. Moving back up to the head of his cock, I started sucking, licking, and very gently nipping. Maintaining a steady rhythm, I worked up and down his shaft, hearing Jason continue to moan above me. I picked up the pace, and felt him begin to tense. That’s when I started swallowing over and over, to allow him deeper access to my throat.

I heard Jason’s voice husky, above me, say “Thea, I’m so close-Thea,” as I began sucking and swallowing harder and faster. He got one last “Thea!” in before he came roughly in my mouth, and I continued to swallow for several moments to make sure I got every last drop. He was slumped over standing in the shower. I scooted over on the bench to let him sit, and he dropped himself next to me.

“Fuck me running, Thea – my god. If having actual physical intercourse with you is anything like the blowjobs you give, my GOD. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with you.” He gave me a very sloppy, sated kiss, then fell back against the wall. “God DAMN, woman. That is the best blowjob I have ever had, ever.”

“It was my pleasure, Jason,” I said, huskily.

We hadn’t even managed to turn the shower on, yet.


	25. Jason made it sound like you run entirely on spite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea wakes up to an additional guest star in Jason's bed, and not the *good* kind.
> 
> Well, kind of good. Definitely not bad.

That night, after we’d had some more sexytimes fun, Jason and I went to bed, together, alone. Alone together. We were both in just underwear. Jason had his right arm underneath me, and I was laying on his right side. We’d started saying our goodnights.

“Goodnight, you stubborn, most beautiful, smart, funny woman.”

“Goodnight to my most wonderful, clever, amazing boyfriend.”

Jason kissed the side of my head, then bent down to kiss my lips, deeply, then turned the lights out.

When I woke up the next morning, we were not alone.

Holding a sheet up to my breasts, I sat up, wincing from the pain. It was early, like 6 am. I looked to my left, and there was Jason, sleeping blissfully – and on the OTHER side of Jason, was Damian, also asleep. I quietly, painfully, picked up my Taylor Swift shirt off of the floor where Jason had flung it last night and pulled it on.

I looked back at my boys – they both looked completely out. I knew that Jason was, if he hadn’t tried to stop me from getting up, he was dead to the world. Damian I wasn’t so sure about. I grabbed one crutch for my right side, to hop my way over to the dresser, to pull out a pair of my own goddamn pants, from the side of the dresser Jason had given me. The sight of Jason pulling all his shit out of one half of the 6-drawer dresser gave me heart eyes all over again. I crutched my way back to the bed to pull on the yoga pants, then crutched to the bathroom to ablute. Once I was finished peeing and brushing my teeth, I went to open the door to the hallway when I heard a calm voice behind me.

“Todd said you had to wake him if you were getting up at night.”

“Damian, it’s 6 am. It’s light outside.”

“You shouldn’t go by yourself if you’re going downstairs.”

“Well, you can either come with me, or narc on me to your brother.”

“Tt. Let me grab a sweatshirt and I’ll help you.”

I smiled to myself. I _did_ have a little buddy. I watched Damian go into Jason’s closet like he owned it, and pull out one hoodie and shrug it on. Then he grabbed a sweatshirt, and put it over his shoulder. Jason’s hoodie came down to Damian’s knees. He looked adorable.

“Why do you look like you are about to pinch my cheeks?” Damian asked, looking suspiciously at me.

“I promise I won’t do _that_. I like you, Damian. I think you look cute in an oversized sweatshirt.”

I swear I saw a little smile on his lips when I said it.

“Do you want any of your medications?” Damian asked.

This kid, man. I smiled to myself, and shook my head. “The bottle of Oxycodone, please.”

Damian went back to grab it, and then met me outside the bedroom door. “Let’s go this way,” he pointed to the left.

“But the stairs are right there,” I said, confused.

“As much as I would like to admit I’m as strong as Todd, I am not. I am unable to carry you. We have an elevator.” He said it so…calmly, like _everyone_ had an elevator.

“You have an…elevator?” I asked, looking at him like he was speaking moon-man language.

“I’m guessing Todd did not inform you of this, when you arrived?”

“Seeing as the only thing Jason informed me when we arrived _was_ that we’d arrived, no. No he did not.”

I saw Damian roll his eyes, and heard him say “Tt.” We walked in companionable silence to the elevator (a fucking elevator. I just. But, knowing Babs had stayed here, it made sense.) and took it to the first floor. Damian handed me the other sweatshirt.

“Thank you so much for showing me, Damian. This is a game changer.”

“It’s still not safe for you to wander around by yourself.”

“Is that you saying that for real, or you not wanting to piss Jason off?”

“I’m saying it because I don’t want you to get hurt any further. Pissing Todd off is a pastime.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

“Will you accompany me to the kitchen? I’d like to make something to drink. You drink things, yes?”

I heard Damian chuckle. “I drink things.”

“Jason made it sound like you run entirely on spite, so I didn’t want to assume. At first I thought he said SPRITE, and I was confused why that would be unusual.”

Damian actually laughed out loud for that one. Now there were two Wayne boys whose laughs I loved.

We got to the kitchen, to find it vacant.

Damian looked concerned. I saw him fall into a defensive stance, and I had to say, I was really impressed with his form. “I’m surprised Pennyworth isn’t up yet.”

“Alfred gave me full reign of the kitchen yesterday; same as Jason.” I saw Damian’s eyebrows reach for the sky when I said it. “Obviously, my mobility is somewhat limited.”

“Pennyworth actually said you could cook in his kitchen?”

“Yes, why?”

“ _No one_ , besides Jason was allowed to use it. Until now.”

I looked at Damian like he was crazy. “Really? _Why_?”

Damian started ticking off reasons on his fingers. “Father almost burned the house down trying to make soup in the microwave, Dick was…not proficient with the stove; Steph has gone through at least 4 toasters trying to make waffles. Neither Cassie or I have any interest in incurring Pennyworth’s wrath. Tim only drinks coffee.”

I was stunned, and somewhat concerned. “I…see.” I paused. “What’s your pleasure, that I can make one handed and not burn the house down? I don’t figure you for a coffee guy; what about tea? Do you like tea?” I saw the face he made, and it was a “no” face. “Hot chocolate?”

“Now you’re talking.”

Together we got the mixins’ together for hot chocolate, and Damian helped me make the mugs. We popped them in the microwave, and I set about trying to find marshmallows.

“What are you looking for?” Damian asked, seeing me roam around.

“Marshmallows.” I saw Damian scale a cabinet like he was a fucking cat, open it, and pull out mini marshmallows. He jumped straight down, and landed on his feet (again, like a cat).

Damian saw me watching him, and cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I am very impressed with your bodily control, and your form.”

“Todd had said you’re a blackbelt in-“ I could see him trying to remember.

“Judo and Jiu-Jitsu.”

“Really.”

“Indeed. That’s how I got into this mess to begin with,” I said, motioning to my newly improved casts. Damian came over to peer at the cast on my leg.

“That looks ugly.”

“I can tell you it doesn’t feel much better,”

“How many compound fractures?”

“Three.”

“Jason said he was astounded you were able to be functional at all, with the pain level you should be experiencing. I have to agree. That is…an impressive amount of damage to one human body.”

“They’ll heal.” I said, matter-of-factly. “It hurts. Whining about it won’t change that.”

“You sound awfully blasé about your injuries, Thea.”

“Don’t get me wrong – I don’t _enjoy_ having them – they’re really putting a crimp in my style, you know? I can’t do my job, I can’t do any of the activities I enjoy, it makes hugging my boyfriend harder, I can’t drive myself anywhere, washing my hair by myself is impossible…I mean, the list continues, but it won’t last forever, you know? Keep moving forward.”

Damian considered me for a moment, cocking his head to the side over his cocoa. “I can see why Todd loves you.”

I scrunched my face into something that made Damian laugh, and shook my head. “Damian, Jason and I have only known each other for about a month and a half; it’s too early –“

“Thea, Todd has never brought someone home before. Ever. I’ve seen some of the women he’s dated in the past and they were not…worthy of him. Although *I* don’t understand it, you enjoy spending time with him. He smiles when he talks about you. Todd doesn’t smile a lot. He may not have said it, but he does love you. I know him.” He paused. “You never asked why I was in your bed, when you woke up.”

I just looked at him. “Should I have? It’s not my house. He’s your family. Now that I know this is a potential thing, I will endeavor to be more…fully dressed in the future,” I said, laughing. I saw Damian’s cheeks turn pink. “Don’t worry about it, honey. I’m not.”


	26. They could legit kill you with their thighs.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ALLLLLL the BatFam gets together for a game night! Trivial Pursuit! 
> 
> What could be more fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Fun fact - I legitimately dislike Trivial Pursuit. My husband is the best Trivial Pursuit player our town has ever seen. When he was in his early to mid twenties, he had 'special rules' if he was going to play with his friends - he had to get all the pie pieces once, then give them all back once (by landing on the big spaces again), and when he landed in the middle, he had to answer 6 questions, one from every category. Essentially, he had to play the game twice while his friends played it once.
> 
> We don't play Trivial Pursuit together, is what I'm saying.

About three weeks into my stay at Wayne Manor, we had a game night with EVERYONE. Including Dick, whom I had only heard about up to this point. Turns out he was a cop in Bludhaven, and happened to know Celia. Small world, right?

I’d helped Alfred make pizzas (with Damian hovering and doing what he was allowed to do, by Alfred) and there were plenty of snacks for everyone. We ate dinner in the dining room, then headed to the game room for Trivial Pursuit. (I swear to God they have a room for everything here. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were a room purely for having sex in, my hand to God.) We split into teams, because the younger kids (excepting perhaps Damian) would be at a significant disadvantage in terms of knowledge to the adults.

“I call dibs on Thea.” Damian said, making me smile, and making everyone else’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Damian,” Dick started, sounding surprised. “That’s…uncharacteristic of you,”

“Dami and Thea are like BFFs now, or whatever,” Steph said, rolling her eyes. To my horror Damian actually _hissed_ at her.

“Damian, honey, hissing isn’t really necessary….”

“ _Jon’s_ my best friend!”

“Babe – it’s not a competition. Steph was just teasing you. I’m unconcerned about my ranking,” I said with a soft smile.

“Tt.” Damian looked perturbed.

I turned to Steph. “Even I gotta admit – Jon sounds way cooler than me.”

“Well, then, I call dibs on Jason!” Steph said super-fast. Cassie looked at her heartbroken.

“ _I_ wanted to be on Jason’s team!”

“Cass, you can be on my team,” Dick said, smiling. Cass looked at him, then looked at Jason.

“But _I_ wanted to be on Jason’s team!” Cass repeated. “Tim, can I be on your team?”

“Sure.” Tim said, smiling.

“OUCH!” Dick said playfully.

Jason, who was seated next to me, whispered in my ear. “If either of us wins tonight, that person gets to go first.” He was using the quietest Sex God voice I’d ever heard. He was referring to our now nightly ritual – we would either take turns, or do some goofy competition and whoever won, would be the first person to orgasm before we went to sleep. There really weren’t any losers in this equation. Jason was doing his very best (and he _really_ was) to keep my mind off the fact I couldn’t actually fuck him right now.

Then Damian got up from where he was sitting and threw himself onto Jason’s lap, to get Jason to move. But Jason didn’t. Damian tried everything short of choking Jason out (which wouldn’t have helped him at _all_ , really) to get J to move, but Jason stood (or sat) firm. So, Damian just lay down across both of us, his head on my lap, and the rest of him on Jason’s.

It started off so well! Everyone (even Bruce!) seemed to be having a good time! Alfred wasn’t playing – he was our impartial referee. Then we soon found out everyone’s weak points.

Mine was Geography. Lucky for me, Damian is smarter than I am.

“Venezuela? Really? Do you need me to buy you a globe? An Atlas? A picture postcard from somewhere?” Jason looked over at me, laughing. “For future reference, Australia is the one with kangaroos, and Austria is the one with Vienna.” 

“You know what would make that an even sicker burn? If you’d have ever watched movies that were made more recently than thirty years ago!” I told him, smirking. Jason’s weak spot was recent media. If it wasn’t Taylor Swift, Start Wars or Star Trek, it was pretty likely Jason didn’t know about it.

Bruce’s best category was science and nature. For the headline newspaper playboy he was made out to be, he certainly knew a lot of really obscure science facts. Like, REALLY obscure.

Dick’s best category was Sports and Leisure. I wasn’t surprised, really – growing up in this family it seemed like you were either athletic or you didn’t get the adoption invite.

And Tim, well. If there were a category specifically for COMPUTERS he would dominate and no one else would bother playing. But there wasn’t. Cassie, though – boy howdy did that young woman know her shit. Like, all the shit. Of everything.

Steph was a pop culture goddess. If there were even a chance a hashtag were involved, Steph would know about it.

Jase and Steph’s worst category was science. My inner science nerd cackled with glee whenever they would get a science and nature question. No doubt, both of them were smart. I knew Jason was an honest to God certified genius. But some of the finer aspects of science, well, just weren’t his thing. Get him talking about Shakespeare, though, and damn that man could talk for days. Literal days.

“Just one episode of Cosmos. That’s all I’m askin’.” I told Jason, laughing.

In the end, Damian and I won. I’m not kidding – he’s smarter than I am. That kid’s a damn _prodigy_. There was some really high-level science stuff he just didn’t know (but I did, because science nerd!) but HOOOOLY SHIT he knew EVERYTHING. I was astounded. He was the only reason we won.

To celebrate a successful game night with no apparent attempted sibling murders, Alfred brought us all ice cream.

“So, Thea, you said you know Celia. How’d you guys get to know each other?” Dick asked, innocently. Jason almost choked on his Rocky Road.

Damian gave Jason a very arch look from my lap.

“Well, we first met at my ER, but we got to know each other through Roller Derby.”

“Roller Derby! No kidding! You like it?”

“I LOVE it. Obviously, I can’t do it now, though – I can’t even be the EMT on call during bouts, because one of my arms is down.”

“Don’t forget your leg, Ninjago.” Jason said, sounding 1000% done. I rolled my eyes.

“So you know Celia pretty well?” Dick asked, sounding like he was fishing. Jason almost choked again.

“Dude, what is WITH you?” Dick asked. “Is there something I should know about Celia?”

“Well, that depends. Are you asking about Celia because you’re interested in her? Because, I hate to break it to you, man, but you play for different teams.”

“And you know this because….?” Dick asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Celia and I dated for about 24 hours.”

“That’s….a very specific timeframe.”

I saw Jason giving me serious side-eye. “I think you’re forgetting to mention a very important detail, T.”

I sighed, deeply. “Well, my dearest, why don’t you share with Dick the important detail you think I’m missing.” I rested my head on the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

“You dated her while you were also dating me!”

“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you? For the last time, _I didn’t know we were dating_! You gave Celia _permission_!”

“ _That was not permission_!”

“I feel like your whole family is going to think we argue like 24/7, _which we don’t_ , by the way. You can’t be retroactively jealous, goofy! You hadn’t declared your intentions by that point!” I said the last part to hopefully make him laugh, which failed, but the rest of his family chuckled.

“I slept over your apartment every.damn.night. Thea.”

“Which, by the way, was the only way I had of reaching you because you didn’t give me your phone number until we were physically in this house!”

“Technically,” Damian started, being my favorite little shit “I gave you Todd’s number.”

“Indeed you did, sir.” We fist-bumped. “Whyyyyy are we still talking about this?” I whined.

“ _Whose_ father didn’t raise a whiner?” Jason turned to me, one eyebrow cocked.

“So, Dick – didja have any other questions about Celia? Now that you know about our sordid 24-hour love affair?”

“Nope, I think that about does it,” Dick said, looking supremely uncomfortable.

“You should come to a bout sometime – I know there are a couple girls on my team and Celia’s who are more inclined to the male persuasion, and who are single. And could legit kill you with their thighs.”


	27. Funsucker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Hood comes for a visit to...Wayne Manor???
> 
> Cue Red Hood antics.
> 
> Didn't think I forgot about him, didja?

I’d been at Wayne Manor for about a month when Red showed up. I was in ‘our’ room, changing after having taken a shower (dating a Wayne certainly had its advantages, including, but not limited to, access to medical technology that Gotham General could only ever dream about. The casts Jason had had the Wayne Research Design team switch me to were…magic.)

Having been here for a while, I was comfortable walking (hobbling on crutches) around naked in ‘our’ room – not like the whole manor because a) that’s terrible houseguest behaviour and b) that’d just be weird. ‘Hey, what’s up Bruce, nah, I don’t need a robe, why, do _you_ think I need one?’ Yeah, no.

So I’d toweled off my body, and was wringing my hair with said towel when I heard a soft ‘ahem’ behind me. I turned around slowly, not really expecting any surprises – because, well, Wayne Manor. I knew at the very least Alfred was home, and I was pretty sure at least Cassie and Dami were home, too. Jason was out running an errand for Alfred. I think Steph was doing something after school.

Standing right behind me was Red Hood. In Jason’s bedroom. In _my_ bedroom. And I was naked, save for my casts.

“Damn, girl, you are-“ he made the *chef’s kiss* gesture.

“Wayne Manor? Really? This strikes you as a wise move? There are at least 3 people in the house right now who are capable of truly fucking up your afternoon.”

“You gonna narc on me?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Not particularly.”

“Will it offend your delicate sensibilities if I get dressed?”

“Do you _have_ to? This is so nice!”

I couldn’t help it, the way he said it made me laugh. I pointed at the dresser across from the bed. “I’m cold, weirdo. Help me out. Top drawer are bras and panties. Dealer’s choice. I gotta warn you, they aren’t the peak of sexiness considering-“ I motioned up and down my right side, and the casts. What I hadn’t said was which side top drawer. Red moved directly to _my_ drawer. I was none surprised. I watched him pull out a soft black bra, and a pair of black side tie bikinis. “I’m gonna need help with those.” I said, my voice husky. Red’s mask snapped to my face _fast_.

“Are you sure? I could pick others,” his voice had changed octaves, going up, my _hand to God_.

“Nah, those are fine,”

Red brought them over to where I was standing leaning on the side of the bed.

“Bra first,” I licked my lips as I said it. I’ll admit it, I was being an absolute shit. But Goddamn if this wasn’t fun.

Red/Jason helped me pull the bra on first left arm, then more carefully over the right arm. This was a front close bra, so Red was _right there_. He did his best to position everything correctly (*ahem*, d-cups, amirite?) and clicked the center closed.

Next came the panties, and this was what I was really looking forward to.

“You need me to explain?” I asked seriously. It was like putting on a diaper. A very, very sexy diaper.

“Nah, I think I can figure it out as I go.” He said, his voice hitching. He had to thread the panties between my legs, which he _took his time_ doing. He was fully suited up, so it wasn’t like we were skin to skin, more like skin to combat armor. He also took his time making sure the crotch wasn’t bunched up, smoothing the fabric into place. He was doing one hell of a job. Once that was done, he tied up the left side, then tied up the right side.

I inspected, and ‘accidentally’ untied the right side. “It feels funny. I think you’re going to have to start all over.” I said, biting my lip.

I was surprised as shit when he took his gloves off. “They were certainly not helping.” Red untied the other side, then slowly – slooooooowwwwly pulled the fabric through my legs to the front. He tapped my left leg. “Can you move your legs apart? Will that be ok? Will you still be able to stand?”

“Yes,” I said, and moved my left leg further from my right leg.

“That’s better. This gives me better…access.”

“It sure does.”

He started again. He used his whole hand (a hand I recognized, by the by) to hold the crotch of the fabric in place over my well-groomed pubic hair. He pressed up, slightly. “That feel good?”

“Yes, indeed,”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Outlook optimistic.”

“You little tease,” I could hear him smile when he said it, so I know he wasn’t upset.

“You know, you take your helmet and armor off, I wouldn’t _have_ to tease. Just sayin’.”

“Your boyfriend would be piiiissssssed.”

“Would he though?” I asked, making a face. I felt Red’s hand push harder up into my labia, and I moaned.

“Goddammit woman, you’re making this very difficult.”

“You’re the one who decided to break into Wayne Manor – don’t blame me for having some fun now that you’re here.” I heard Red sigh, deeply.

He focused his attention on the strings on the sides. “You gonna take them off again?”

“Do you want me to?”

I saw his hands clench into fists. “I-can’t.”

“I mean, I kinda want to lay down and start masturbating, see how much more of that armor I can get you to take off. You did make me…pretty wet.”

“Woman, you are…very trying.” Red inhaled long and slow.

“You want to see how wet?” I asked, taking one of his hands, pushing it past the bikini, and gently inserting two fingers inside me. I took a minute to maneuver his hand around as best I could, then gently pulled his fingers out. “Oh, but you can’t even take a taste, without taking off your helmet. What a shame,” I put his fingers in my mouth and sucked. Hard. Then licked, taking my time with each finger. I heard him moan.

“You are a witch. A Demon. A demon-witch.”

“Easy, there, buddy – watch who you’re calling a demon. Well, since you don’t want to play, help me get dressed.” I waved my hand vaguely toward the dresser. “Pants and a shirt. Please.”

Red huffed his way to the dresser, again going to _my_ side. He pulled out a pair of sweats and a long sleeved t-shirt. He threw them at me.

“Not going to help me get dressed?” I asked, almost offended.

“You’re….too tempting. Your witchy magic is too powerful.”

“Funsucker.” I told him, which earned (what I thought was) a cranky glare. I sat on the bed and pulled on the pants, and the shirt, without much of a problem. “What’re you doing here, anyway?”

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Ask away.”

“Would you have any interest in…payback, against the dude who did that to you?”

“What kind of payback?” I asked, my brows knitting together.

“Up to you, really. Not much is off limits in my book.”

“Huh. I’d never really thought about it. Can I – get back to you? I assume we’ll run into one another again, eventually.”

“Take your time. I’ll find you.”

“You always do.”


	28. Red Hood?  The dude that kills people?  And wears...red?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea takes great delight in spending part of her afternoon being a shit to her one and only love.
> 
> (Jason Todd, we're talking about here.)

Later that afternoon, once Jason came home, I managed to get him alone in our room.

“Babe, something weird happened today, while you were gone,” I said, trying to sound concerned.

“What happened, Ninjago?”

“I think you should sit down.”

“Thea, what’s going on? What happened?”

I sat next to him. “Red Hood was in our room. Right here.” I said, pointing to where Jason been standing, just hours before.

“Wait, what? Red Hood?” Jason’s face was a mask of disbelief. “The dude that kills people? And wears…red?” He added, weakly. He was _really_ _really_ trying to get me to believe that he didn’t believe me.

“One and the same. He was here. Jason – he walked in on me right after I took a shower! I was naked!”

“He what? Did he touch you? Did he hurt you?”

“He didn’t hurt me, no,” I said, being evasive on purpose. “He actually helped me get dressed. It was weird, though – Jase – he knew where stuff _was_. Like, my bras, that you bought me.”

“What-what did he want?”

“Well, when he _finally_ got around to that, he asked if I wanted to…do something, to the dude that did this to me.”

“Do…what?”

“He said he’d leave it up to me. I- Jase, I don’t know what to do. What do you think I should do?” I knew I was being a shit, because, well, I couldn’t help it. But I did actually want to know what JASON TODD-WAYNE thought about this. I saw his fists ball up at his sides, on the bedspread.

“Thea, would you really want to go after this guy?”

“I don’t – kinda, yeah.” I sighed. “What do you think I should do? Would you come with me when I meet him?”

“Did he like give you a time or place or something?”

“No, he never does that. He just shows up when you’re not around. He said he’d find me.”

“I, uh, yeah, I’ll come with you, of course.”

I could tell Jason was trying really, really hard to play it cool. Really hard. But I knew my love, and he WAS NOT CHILL.

“Thank you, Jase. It makes me feel a lot better knowing you’ll be there with me.”

I am such a shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, friends. Life in 2020 has generally been FUCKING AWFUL for everyone, everywhere, but today we had to euthanize one of our cats that I got when I was 23. I had him for 17 years.
> 
> I've got some shit going on, is what I'm saying.
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, even if Thanksgiving isn't celebrated where you are. Be thankful for the people/pets/things that make you happy. Hug them if it is SAFE ENOUGH to do so.
> 
> Take care of each other. Be kind.


	29. This is a Two Person Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason tells Thea he wants to take her on a vacation for her birthday!
> 
> WHERE COULD THEY BE GOING NOW? (Seriously. Where COULD they be going?)
> 
> Well, I know. So there.

“So,” Jason started, sounding really nervous. “It’s getting close to your birthday.”

“Jason, it’s the beginning of March. My birthday is over a month away.” My birthday is in the middle of April. Jason and I were still at the Manor, and I’d been there for 2 months now.

“Yeah, it’s close!” he said. I narrowed my eyes at him, because I know he was going somewhere with this.

“Dude, let’s get through getting my casts off, then we can talk about a birthday party.” I said, laughing.

“No.”

“Huh?” I asked, confused.

“No party.”

“Ok, then what do we need to talk about?” Who has two thumbs and was still confused? This girl, right here.

“I want to take you on vacation.”

I looked at him, dumbfounded. “Jason, being here, with you, has been vacation for me. This is truly the best vacation I could have ever asked for, hands down, circumstances being what they are.”

I watched a blush creep up his neck, to his cheeks, and saw a genuine “Happy Boy Jason” smile on his lips.

“No, I mean an actual vacation. It doesn’t have to be super long, if you’re out of PTO! I just want to take you somewhere special.” He was still blushing, and it was SUPER cute.

“Oh, um, PTO shouldn’t be a problem, I have a ton banked. I guess let me know what dates you’re thinking, and I’ll talk to my boss about it.”

“Am I _new_ ,” Jason said, under his breath, making me laugh out loud.

“Honey, you are definitely not new anymore, we’ve been dating for over three months,” I said, still laughing. “You are most definitely ‘Used, Very Good Condition.’” Jason laughed out loud for that, and I just. I loved his laugh so much. “So where we goin’?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Oh, come ON! Gimme a hint!”

“Nope. Top Secret.”

“I’ll get Dami to tell me.”

“I haven’t told _anyone_ where we’re going. Not even Alfred. I know how persuasive you can be.”

WHOA. That spoke volumes about how much of a surprise he wanted it to be for me.

“Can you tell me on which continent we will be vacationing?”

“No.”

“Jason! No fair! I mean, will you tell me what kind of clothes to pack?”

“Yes, I will tell you what kind of climate to prepare for. But not now. Ninjago, I DO NOT want you to figure this out, and I know that you would. You would get The Demon to help you and the two of you together are fucking frightening. He is not invited, by the way. This is a two-person vacation.”

*****

I found Damian later, in his room (after we got him home from school; Jason and I had started picking him up from Gotham Academy in my car, because I had better seatbelts for Damian in the back. Yes, I’m That Mom.) and quizzed him for possible location. The little traitor wouldn’t tell me!

“No, Thea, I’m not helping. Todd said he wanted it to be a surprise, and he really wants it to be a surprise.”

“I can’t believe your taking his side!”

“Feisty, there are no sides! We want you to enjoy your birthday!”


	30. I get to fuck you today!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Cast Off Day for Thea!
> 
> GUESS WHAT THAT MEANS.
> 
> Go on, guess. I'll wait.

We had finally, FINALLY made it to ‘cast-removal day’. I was so excited to finally be rid of these things, I was practically vibrating. But, that wasn’t the ONLY reason I was vibrating.

These fucking casts had made it physically impossible for me to fuck my goddamn perfect boyfriend for two whole fucking goddamn months, and as soon as we walked back into my goddamn apartment we weren’t coming out for DAYS.

That morning, Jason and I had made breakfast at the Manor, early enough for Dami, Cass and Steph to join us, and Alfred, too. On Dami’s way out, I pulled him aside.

“Hey love, I want to give you something.”

“What’s that, Thea?” He asked seriously. I handed him a key.

“It’s a key to my place, babe. You’re welcome anytime, however not for at least 5 days.” Damian narrowed his eyes at me, and I told him, “Quality time with Jason.”

Damian looked puzzled, but then it hit him. “GROSS. Ew. Well, I’ll make sure to text you before I come over.”

“Perfect.” I saw Jason walking over to us.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the key Dami was holding.

“Thea gave me a key to her apartment, Todd.”

“Wait, what? *I* don’t even have a key! No fair!”

“Jason, you’ve never needed a key.” It looked like there was actual hurt in his eyes. “Fine, Jase, I’ll make you one, too.” I said, rolling my eyes. 

I hugged Damian goodbye, as well as his sisters, as Jason and I saw them off to school. Once they were gone, I made sure to say my proper goodbyes to both Alfred and Bruce, thanking them effusively for their overgenerous hospitality. Alfred even let me hug him (Bruce did too, but I think Alfred hugs are rarer, to be honest.).

Once goodbyes were said, and my things were packed (I left most of it there, aside from BunBun, electronics and some toiletries), Jason and I headed to Wayne Industries Research Division. 

“I get to have sex with yoooooouuuuu todaaaaaayyyyy!” I sang in a sing-song voice as Jason was driving. “I get to fuck my boyfriend todaaaaayyyyyyy! Yay yay yay! I get to have sex with yoooooooouuuuu todaaaayyyyy!”

Jason was laughing out loud at my outburst. “Someone sounds excited,” He said with a cheeky grin on his face. I made the ‘little bit’ motion with my thumb and index finger.

“Maybe a little.”

“Sweetheart, we’ll still have to see if you’re up for it-“

“I’m up for it, Jason.” I said, interrupting him quickly.

He shook his head. “Your range of motion may be limited; you might still be in pain.”

“I will fucking fight through it so help me. Fight me.”

“No, no ma’am, I will not. I would be absolutely terrified to be up against you in a fight.”

“Afraid you’ll hurt me?”

“God no. I’m afraid _you’ll_ hurt _me_.”

“Huh.” I said, regarding him curiously.

We finally made it to Wayne Industries, and wasted no time getting checked in and taken up to the exam room we’d used before. Lucius wasn’t there this time, it was just the doctors. They had me on an exam table in my underwear in no time. 

I had Jason lean down so I could whisper to him. “I get to fuck you today,” I said quietly, grinning. He grinned back and kissed my forehead.

The casts came off with record speed, and soon I was sitting up on the exam table, all four limbs restored to almost factory defaults. My arm felt fine, it was a little tender, but fine. I was more worried about my leg. It took the most damage. 

Jason stood directly in front of me, ready to catch me if I stumbled. He took my hands, as I stood up and put weight on my right leg. So far so good. I could tell I’d lost some muscle tone, and my knee felt fucking WEIRD, because it wasn’t my knee anymore. My muscles were tight, from not being used much.

I took one step, and didn’t pitch headfirst into my love. With Jason still in front of me, I took two more steps, and they were a little shorter than they would have been otherwise. Pain wise, it was manageable. I had a feeling the fractures in my leg were always going to be a source of soreness for the rest of my life. I tried walking around the table, and four pairs of eyes watched me with trepidation. I was able to do it, but it was slow going. I was going to need P/T for sure.

I sat back on the table and one of the doctors came to gauge my range of motion. Hip flexors were a little tight, but with some stretching they would be ok. My knee was going to take some getting used to. I wasn’t going to be able to take up running again anytime soon, or for that matter, Roller Derby.

Once I was cleared, I got dressed again, and with discharge instructions in hand, Jason and I left to head back to my apartment.

FINALLY.


	31. I think you're my person

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Thea finally go on a date!
> 
> Just kidding. Unless hardcore, serious fucking counts as a date.
> 
> Because then they did go on a date. A really good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please to note this chapter contains very explicit sexual content.
> 
> You've been warned.

Once the lock clicked behind me I was on him like a wolf trying to take down its prey. I jumped on his back, and he barely had time to react, reaching behind me to loop his arms under my knees so I didn’t fall off. I had the skin of his neck between my teeth, and started sucking.

“You’re going to leave a hickey, Thea,” Jason said, huskily.

“You’re not leaving this apartment for DAYS, Todd, no one’s gonna see it but me.” I got his right earlobe in my mouth and was a little more gentle in my ministrations than I had been with his neck.

“I want the front of you, Byrne,” Jason said in the Sex God voice. He helped me down from my back and my panties did drop, this time, as well as the rest of my clothes. “Goddamn, Thea, every fucking time I see you naked, I keep thinking this is a dream.”

I grabbed his mostly hard cock through his pants. “No dream, baby. Get your fucking clothes off. We’re taking a shower.”

He was not actually wearing 90,000 layers of anything today, so his cargo pants, fitted Henley and socks and shoes came off in record time.

“Someone was planning ahead, I see,” I said into his mouth as he picked me back up, his hands on my ass.

“Speaking of planning, before we get into anything too heavy – you’re on birth control, right?”

“I have an IUD. We’re covered.” I heard him sigh audibly.

“Oh thank GOD. You ARE perfect.” And with that, his mouth was on mine, his tongue fighting mine for dominance. He started walking us toward my bathroom. By the time we got there, he’d switched to holding me with only one arm, and had three fingers inside me, close to making me cum. He pushed harder against the spongy tissue, whispering “Cum for me, Thea,” into my ear in the Sex God voice, and I did, screaming his name. He set me down inside the white enamel claw foot tub, making sure to hang onto me in case my legs were weak for any reason. He followed, as I got the shower started; pushing himself and his erection into the crack of my ass while I was bent over fiddling with the tub handles.

Once I was done with the handles, I braced my hands against the wall, and spread my legs open wider to give him better access, however all I received was a smack on my ass for my trouble.

“Stand up, Thea.” His Sex God voice was on full force, now. I did as I was told. He pulled me to him roughly, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “You’re going to beg me to fuck you before I’m done with you.”

“Jason, I’m begging you to fuck me _now_ ,” I panted.

“Thea. Not in the shower. I am not fucking you for the first time in your goddamn shower.” And with that, he replaced his fingers inside of me, getting on his knees to press his tongue to my clit. His other arm wrapped around my waist to keep me from falling over. He added a fourth finger, spreading me wide, fingers slamming into me _hard_. His teeth gently nipped my clit and I came again, screaming once more. (I had already texted Tim, so the cops were definitely not showing up tonight.)

“Jason,” I said panting, out of breath, “I really do want to wash,”

“I know, baby. I’ll take care of it. I want to make sure you’re as wet as you’ve ever been before I really get started on you.”

I moaned. Jason got up from his knees, his nose and mouth glistening, and kissed me deeply. I tasted myself on him, and kissed him harder. Jason grabbed my silicone body mitt and a bar of soap, and once the mitt was lathered, he started washing me, standing behind me. He started with my back, using long strokes down to my ass, pulling my ass cheeks apart; then down my legs, making sure to scrub extra gently but extra scrubbing to my right leg, since it hadn’t been washed in a while. I knew Jason gave zero shits about the fact that I hadn’t shaved that leg in two months. After washing my legs, he used the mitt on my right arm, giving it extra attention, too, but then put the mitt down. He was still behind me, and used his hands to wash my breasts, massaging, pulling my nipples, all while nipping my ears, and kissing and sucking his way down my neck. After washing my stomach and my left arm, he put the soap down, washing his hands, and moved around me so we were facing again. He buried his face in my pussy, pushing three fingers back inside me, and within seconds I came a third time.

“Jason, please,” I begged. “Please, I want you inside me. Please.”

“I can’t hear you, Ninjago, I’m kinda busy right now.” He said, his face buried between my labia. His tongue was inside me now, fucking me.

“Jason, please fuck me,” I said louder.

“In a second, baby.” He pulled his tongue out, replacing it with three fingers, and used his tongue on my clit. He pressed HARD into the spongy tissue, and I came, screaming, liquid spilling out of me. His fingers were still inside of me, milking all of it out. Once I was done, and he was satisfied, he stood up, kissing me hard, biting my lips, and tongue. “What were you saying, baby?”

“Jason, please fuck me,” I begged.

“I still couldn’t hear you.”

“Jason PLEASE. I need your cock inside me. Please!”

“I think I heard something, but I think you’ll need to repeat it.”

“Jason, please fuck me until I can’t spell your name anymore. I’m begging you.”

And with that, he turned the shower off, turning off the water, grabbing two towels for us, making sure we were mostly dry before he picked me up by my ass and carried me to our bed. He set me down gently (had I not been still healing, I’m pretty sure he would have fucking thrown me) and helped me scoot up to the head of the bed. Once we were situated with my head on the pillows, and him holding himself up above me, he bent down to whisper to me.

“I have never wanted anyone more than I want you right now, Theophania. I’m going to make you scream so hard Tim’s going to wonder if he should actually call the cops.”

I was squirming beneath him. “Please, Jason!”

Jason pushed my legs apart with his hands, and looked up at me. “Your right leg feel ok?”

“Yes.”

“You promise you’ll tell me if it starts to hurt, Thea? I’m serious. If I see a painful expression on your face and it turns out it’s your knee and you didn’t tell me, I won’t be pleased.”

“I promise, Jason. I promise. Please, Jason, please fuck me.”

And he did. Boy HOWDY did he. I felt him lining his cock up to my entrance, and he sloooooowwwwlllllyyyy pushed his head inside me. So slowly. I gasped, and started fisting the sheets under my hands.

“Jason, please, more, please,”

“Baby, I gotta take my time, I _really_ don’t want to hurt you.” I opened my eyes long enough to see the lust clouded expression in his eyes.

He continued pushing inside of me so slowly. So fucking slowly. But he was right, he was stretching me so much with his size, going too fast would have ended our fun right quick. He finally (FINALLY) reached my cervix, and started withdrawing a little faster than he entered. He felt so fucking amazing.

“Oh, my God, Jason, you feel so good, please don’t stop.”

“I promise you I won’t, baby, you feel too good. You’re so goddamn tight, you feel like heaven.”

Once he fully withdrew, he pushed himself back in, faster this time, hitting my back wall with a little force and it felt so fucking good. “Yes, please, oh, please, yes!” I cried.

“Yeah?” he growled.

“Yes, oh my God Jason, please fuck me harder, please,”

“Don’t gotta ask me twice,” he said, and thrust inside me with a snap of his hips, withdrawing, and slammed inside me again, and again. Each thrust made the coil inside me wind tighter and tighter, bringing me closer and closer to release. I was a moaning mess underneath him, grabbing my headboard for stability. Incoherent moans and my name were escaping from his mouth, too.

“Harder, Jason,” I said, looking directly into his eyes.

“You sure?” He asked, and I could see worry there.

“Jesus Christ, Jason, please fuck me harder. I’m not a china doll.” I panted. I tilted my hips up slightly to get a better angle and he came slamming down to meet me, with _exactly_ the right amount of force. He was so perfect.

“Yes, Oh my God, yes, Jason, please, yes, Jason, just like that, yes, oh my God, yes, yes yes, Jason,” I cried, panting hard.

“Woman, you are going to be the fucking death of me.” He had dropped onto his forearms, and his head was almost buried in my neck, but he kept ramming into me *just right* and I felt myself begin to unwind.

“Jason-“

“I know, baby. Come hard for me, Thea. Make me cum.” He said as he sunk his teeth into my shoulder. I screamed so hard I got hoarse halfway through, the orgasm ripping through me. I came so hard the first time a second orgasm followed, and that proved to be too much for Jason, who tensed up, and yelled my name as he came inside me. When his shuddering stopped and he stilled, he took one hand to cup my chin and kissed me, deeply. He gently pulled out of me, and flopped down on his back beside me, taking one of my hands in his.

“I think I felt the Earth itself move, Thea. Jesus Christ. That was – Jesus Christ. There are no words for how amazing that was.”

I was too stunned to speak, and only nodded, squeezing his hand.

“Did I fuck the words right out of you?” He asked, grinning.

I nodded harder. I curled up into his side, and I felt both of his arms around me.

I tried to find my voice. “That-that,” I started, voice _very_ raspy “That was the best sex I have ever had, Jason.”

“Me, too, Tiny Terror. Me, too.”

“Can you stay tonight?” I asked, desperately hoping he’d say yes.

“Ninjago, why don’t you just assume I’ll be here most nights from now on, ok?” He kissed the side of my head when he said it.

“Ok,” I said, smiling, and I couldn’t hide the blush that crept up my cheeks.

He could feel it. “That make you happy?” he asked.

“Yes,” I rasped.

“Me, too. With you is my favorite place to be, Thea.”

“Same, Jason. You feel like home to me.” I had my head on his chest, and felt his heart race after I said it. I looked up to see his face, and I could swear he was holding back tears.

“Hey, Thea?” he asked, sounding…hesitant.

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re my person, Thea.”

“I think you’re my person, too, Jason.”


	32. Wanna make me a tag that says ‘If lost, please return to Jason Todd-Wanye’?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOMEONE SAYS THE 'L' WORD.
> 
> WHO COULD IT BE, I WONDER.
> 
> DON'T YOU WONDER?

About ten minutes later, I got a text from Tim, wanting to make sure he didn’t need to call an ambulance. He told me he was actually worried.

“I think the only casualty may be my voice. We’re all good up here,”

“You’re SURE, Thea?”

“Positive, Tim. I’m so sorry to have worried you.”

“Please don’t kill yourself fucking my brother.”

I put my phone down and Jason caught me smiling.

“What’s that grin for? Was that Tim, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah, I guess I was even more…vocal…than he’s used to, and really wanted to make sure I hadn’t died.”

Jason laughed out loud, then crawled over me and stood at the edge of the bed, holding his arms out to me. “C’mere, Spidermonkey,” he said, grinning. I clapped and giggled. “You are such a dork,” he teased as I slid my way over to the edge of the bed. I didn’t even have to _do_ anything this time – he just bent down and picked me up under my ass, and there we were.

Once I was flush against his chest, I wrapped my arms around his neck (loosely, so I didn’t choke him) and sighed. Jason had walked us out to the kitchen, and we stood in the middle of it, him holding me, both of us still completely naked.

“Happy?” he asked, his face buried in my shoulder.

“So happy.”

“Me, too.”

“Hey, Jase?”

“Mmmm?” he asked, face still in my hair.

“I love you.”

Immediately, Jason’s face was out of my hair, and his eyes were locked on mine. His lips were parted slightly, and I couldn’t quite read the look on his face. He kind of looked like he was in shock. He backed us up so my ass was resting on my countertop, and he settled himself in between my legs. He took my face in his hands.

“Say it again,” he said, softly.

“I love you, Jason.”

With my face still in his hands, he kissed me – deeply, passionately; like he was trying to tell me something with his kisses. I had one hand in his hair, and one hand on one of his cheeks, and when I stroked my thumb across his cheek, I felt wetness there. I pulled away and saw he was crying. I wrapped my arms around him, and squeezed.

“I love you, Jason Peter Todd-Wayne.” I felt Jason squeeze back, just as hard. 

Then Jason pulled away, and took my face in his hands and kissed me. KISSED ME kissed me. He kissed me like he was trying to pull the soul right out of my body. His tongue was fighting mine for dominance in our mouths, and he was all teeth and hands; nipping at my lips and tongue; his hands were physically trying to pull me into his body, and then they were everywhere. In my hair, on my face, gripping my back and my hips. He pulled me close so I was pressed against his growing erection and I groaned into his mouth.

“Tiny Terror – you good?”

I had to pull myself out of my sex induced stupor to fully understand what he just said. “Wh-what?”

“You good – are you good to keep going? You’re not hurting anywhere?”

“Not- hurting,” I said, panting.

“Good. Because I don’t plan on stopping for awhile.”

And with that, he picked me up by my ass and dropped me right on his cock. I landed _hard_ on him, and it felt so fucking good. My toes were already curling and by the time he’d pulled me completely off him and dropped me again, I was screaming his name (well, screaming as much as I could while having little voice left) and clenching all around his length inside me. I came hard; panting, gasping for breath, pussy clenching hard around him over, and over and over.

“Oh, Thea, yes, baby, God, yes – just like that.” He growled. He kept up the relentless pace of pulling me completely off of him then thrusting back into me, faster and faster. Even while still dropping me down on his cock, he walked us back to the bedroom, and laid me down on the bed, hoisting my left leg up over his shoulder, and thrust back inside me so hard I came again, even harder from the change in positioning. I had absolutely no voice left, but my back was bowed, sweat was dripping in between my breasts and I felt like my body was on fire.

“Fuuuuccck, Thea! My God, if you keep cumming like that – I won’t-“ he panted.

“Harder, Jason. Please, harder!” I rasped out.

From this new position, Jason started rubbing my g-spot, and at the pace he was going it was almost uncomfortable how sensitive I was. Almost. He fit _just right_ – big enough, long enough – his cock was kissing my cervix, and SWEET CHRISTMAS what a sublime sensation that is. From his moans and grunts I could tell he was getting closer, and I was, too.

And I knew exactly what to say to get him to unravel above me.

“Come for me, my love,” I whispered, and Jason’s eyes flew open, and it was like I flipped a fucking switch. His hands gripped my hips even harder, and I watched his eyes kind of roll back in his head – I could feel the tension in his body, and as my third orgasm overcame me, allllll that tension released, and he thrust into me so deeply I could feel the shock through my stomach. He came, swearing my name; his hands were holding me so tightly I knew I would have handprints on my hips tomorrow morning.

He slowly let my left leg down, and took a minute to get his breathing under control before he tumbled to my left and pulled me to him. I nestled into his chest and heard his heartbeat and breathing slowing down.

“Fuck me running, Thea – WOW.” He breathed. He was staring up at the ceiling, with a stunned expression on his face. I watched him zone out for a couple minutes – it was cute. He looked like he’d just made a fantastic new discovery.

I made to get out of bed to use the bathroom, but Jason threw an arm over me and whined in protest. “No. No leave.”

“I gotta pee, Jase.”

He harumphed. “Fine. But come back.”

“Deal.” 

I crawled back into bed with him when I was done, and he pulled me to him possessively, like I was a favorite toy he didn’t want anyone else to play with.

“Mine.” He said, booping my nose. I giggled.

“Yours.” I repeated, nodding. I crawled on top of him and laid completely prone on his body. “Mine,” I told him, booping his nose.

“Yours.” He said softly. He’d wrapped his arms around me, around my waist on top of him.

“Wanna make me a tag that says ‘If lost, please return to Jason Todd-Wanye’?” I said, laughing.

“Would you wear it?” He asked, quickly.

“Sure.”

I’m pretty sure he was trying to hide a really, really big grin. He was hiding it badly.


	33. You often watch your girlfriends take baths?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Softness. Utter softness.
> 
> The 'L' word is mentioned AGAIN.

We puttered about for the rest of the afternoon, if ‘puttering about’ means having mind-blowing, apartment-shaking, possibly pass-out-inducing sex on every available surface in my apartment.

Because we did.

Eventually, we had to eat. I was treated to my personal Jason favorite, stir-fry. Having not grocery shopped in two months, it was the easiest thing for us to throw together. We ate on the couch, so I could sit in Jason’s lap. Neither of us wanted to not be touching. We cleaned up the dinner dishes and I told Jason I wanted to take a bath. I _really_ wanted to shave my legs.

“Mind if I keep you company?” he asked, standing behind me.

“You…want to watch me shave my legs?”

“Why not?”

I shrugged. He was right. “I’d love company,” I said, smiling.

I made a quick scrub out of olive oil, sugar and some lime juice, dumped it into a Rubbermaid container, and brought it with me into the bathroom. Once I got settled in the tub, Jason came in, and sat on the floor next to me.

“You often watch your girlfriends take baths?”

“Never.” He looked like he was considering something, his head tilted to the side. “But you’re really the only one I don’t want to let out of my sight.”

“Thank you for taking care of me, Jason. I am so lucky to have you.”

“Anything for you, Tiny Terror. I mean it.” Jason looked at me, really looked at me, before speaking next. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m a little sore,” I said, with a smile. His face turned somewhat stormy looking. “Sex-sore, not broken bone sore.” I clarified.

I saw him breathe a sigh of relief.

“What about you?” I asked. “You have…remarkable stamina, may I just say,”

“It’s a gift,” he said with a small smile.

After finishing my bath, and getting bundled up in my robe, we went back to bed. It was only 8 PM, still a little early for sleeping, but we’d both had a big day. We were both naked (that wasn’t likely to change anytime soon) and wrapped around each other, under the covers.

“I can hear the gears turning, Tiny Terror – what’s on your mind?” Jason asked, into my hair.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Worrying about P/T, going back to work, if I’ll ever be able to play derby again, finding a new Dojo, what to get you for your birthday, how Damian’s doing, if Gabe’s safe, and the list goes on.”

I could feel Jason’s eyes get wide as his face was pressed into my head.

“Oh, buddy, you have like 2,000 tabs open at the same time, don’tcha?”

“Always. My brain is...pretty intense.”

“I’ve met you – I know it.”

“I really wish they’d let me keep the casts,” I said, sighing.

“Thea – you know Lucius would have let you if he could-“

“I know, Jase, I know. It’s proprietary. Still sucks, though. They were SO COOL.”

“Only you would nerd out over a cast.”

“It’s not just ANY cast, Jason! It’s…revolutionary! Those casts would be game changers for everyone! I am so thankful you took me to get them!”

“You’re welcome, Thea.” Jason tilted my head to look up at him. His eyes were so, so blue. He looked…nervous. “I, um, I wanted to tell you something.”

“Hmm?” I hummed, quietly.

“I love you.”

I beamed at him. “I love you, too, Jason.”

My heart was so full. So, so full.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021, folks!
> 
> A short and sweet chapter, prior to some...major action. And not really the fun kind.
> 
> But! Everyone is safe and alive! For now!
> 
> I'm [ActionNerdGamerLove](https://actionnerdgamerlove.tumblr.com) on Tumblr - stop by and yell at me, if you're so inclined!
> 
> Comments are always welcome and deeply appreciated!
> 
> As always, Stay Safe and Be Kind!


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